£ibrar^  of  t:he  Cheolocjical  ^tminary 

PRINCETON  .  NEW  JERSEY 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

REVEREND  JOHN  ALEXANDER  MACKAY 
LITT.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  L.H.D. 

BX  6700  .Z8  N37  1916 
Nardi,  Blanche  P. 
Michele  Nardi 


MK'HELE    NAKDI 


(         NOV    26  1968 


Michele    Nardi 

^^-=--^  THE=== 

Italian    Evangelist 

HIS   LIFE 
AND  WORK 


Compiled  by 
Rev.  A.  B.  Simpson 


Published  by 
Mrs.  Blanche  P.  Nardi, 

690  EIGHTH  AVENUE 
NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHTED    I916 
BY    MRS.    BLANCHE   P.    NARDI 


PREFACE 

IT  is  the  supreme  glory  of  some  noble 
lives  that  the  man  himself  was  greater  than 
his  work  or  the  story  of  his  achievements. 
It  is  difficult  for  this  reason  to  do  justice  to 
the  portrait  of  Michele  Nardi.  He  was 
unique,  original,  intense,  dramatic,  and  diffi- 
cult to  translate  into  ordinary  terms  of  ex- 
pression. Who  can  forget  the  way  he  used 
to  say  "Praise  the  Lord"?  Who  can  forget 
his  shining  and  transparent  face,  and  his  pose 
and  attitude  eloquent  of  force  and  deep  sin- 
cerity? He  carried  his  heart  on  his  sleeve 
and  was  "a  living  epistle,  known  and  read  of 
all  men." 

The  writer  counts  it  a  great  privilege  to 
have  even  a  modest  part  in  making  his  life  and 
testimony  live  and  continue  to  speak  for  the 
voice  that  now  is  still.  He  had  the  privilege 
of  knowing  him  from  the  beginning  of  his 
career,  and  knowing  him  and  his  beloved  wife 
intimately.  The  following  sketch  is  really  the 
simple  story,  which  her  own  loving  hand  has 
traced,  slightly  revised  and  reconstructed  for 


4  Michcle  Nardi 

better  literary  effect.  But  the  simplicity  of 
the  story  is  its  real  charm,  and  the  unaffected- 
ness  of  the  little  volume  will  make  both  their 
lives  more  intensely  real  to  the  large  circle 
who  knew  and  loved  them  so  well. 

The  story  is  further  extended  in  the  testi- 
monies of  many  friends,  who  have  gladly  unit- 
ed to  bring  their  tributes  of  affection  and  vene- 
ration to  his  sacred  memory.  Among  these 
we  are  permitted  to  include  Rev.  A.  F.  Schauf- 
fler,  President  of  the  New  York  City  Mission, 
who  has  kindly  consented  to  write  the  intro- 
duction; Mrs.  S.  G.  Beck,  of  Germantown,  to 
whom  the  volume  is  respectfully  dedicated; 
Rev.  Dr.  Ely,  Rev.  Mr.  Agide  Perazzini,  and 
others. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  writer  should 
add  to  these  testimonies.  The  life  story  speaks 
for  itself.  We  thank  God  for  the  life  that 
was  behind  it,  and  the  works  that  do  follow. 

A.  B.  Simpson. 
New  York,  March  20,  1916. 


This  volume   is  lovingly  dedicated  to 

MRS.  SARAH  G.  BECK, 

Germantown,  Pa., 

the  generous  helper  in  every  noble  cause  and 

the  lifelong  friend  of  Michele  and 

Blanche  Nardi 


INTRODUCTION 

n^HE  REV.  MICHELE  NARDI,  whose 
^  biography  is  herewith  issued,  was  a  re- 
markable man.  The  story  of  his  life  is  so 
fully  told  in  the  following  pages  that  by 
way  of  introduction  little  seems  to  be  called 
for.  That  little  will  naturally  take  the  form 
of  "An  Appreciation"  by  the  undersigned. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Nardi 
dates  back  some  years  when  I  went  to  Phil- 
adelphia to  assist  him  in  work  he  was  at 
that  time  carrying  on  among  the  Italians  in 
that  city.  I  then  at  once  saw  he  was  a  man 
of  unusual  oratorical  gifts  and  that  he  had  a 
strong  hold  on  the  hearts  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen  who  had  gathered  at  the  serv- 
ices over  which  he  had  presided.  In  due 
time  the  New  York  City  Mission  was  look- 
ing for  a  man  to  take  the  place  of  its  veteran 
Italian  pastor,  the  Rev.  A.  A.  Arrighi,  and 
the  Society  was  quite  persuaded  that  there 
was  no  more  acceptable  and  reliable  man 
than  just  the  one  whom  I  had  heard  in 
Philadelphia.    We  then   issued  him   a   call, 


8  Michele  Nardi 

and  for  about  six  years  he  had  charge  of  our 
Italian  Mission  in  Charlton  Street,  which 
during  this  time  became  the  Charlton 
Street  Memorial  Church,  and  for  about  two 
years  he  also  had  charge  of  the  Italian 
work  in  the  Broome  Street  Tabernacle.  Here 
Mr.  Nardi  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  not  only  preaching  and  teaching, 
but  visiting  incessantly,  like  the  apostle 
Paul,  from  house  to  house,  beseeching  every 
man  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  Mr.  Nardi 
was  a  man  possessed  with  the  Spirit  of  his 
Master,  and  for  him  it  was  "meat  and  drink" 
to  do  the  will  of  his  Heavenly  Father.  As 
a  pulpit  orator  he  manifested  all  the  fervor 
of  his  race.  His  preaching,  however,  was 
thoroughly  evangelical  and  evangelistic;  his 
only  aim  being  to  bring  everyone  into  vital 
union  with  Christ  as  his  Saviour,  and  then 
to  build  them  up  in  their  Christian  life,  so 
that  they  in  turn  should  be  winners  of  souls. 
He  believed  in  the  Word  and  always 
preached  it  faithfully,  never  turning  aside  to 
political  or  other  themes  and  never  indulg- 
ing in  the  clap-trap  of  cheap  attacks  on  the 
Catholic  Church.    His  one  aim  was  to  set  up 


The  Italian  Evangelist  9 

a  standard  of  truth  as  laid  down  in  the  Bible 
and  let  all  else  take  care  of  itself. 

While  he  was  with  the  City  Mission,  he 
also  cooperated  in  the  Evangelistic  Summer 
Tent  Work ;  and  here  too  he  was  a  tower  of 
strength.  Italian  audiences  always  hung 
on  his  words,  and  were  fascinated  by  the 
message  that  he  had  to  give. 

In  1913  Mr.  Nardi  left  us  to  return  to  his 
native  land,  and  the  City  Mission  parted 
with  him  with  sincere  regret  and  with  feel- 
ings of  high  esteem  for  the  splendid  work 
he  had  done  while  with  us.  The  same  fer- 
vor which  he  displayed  while  in  New  York 
manifested  itself  in  Italy.  Practically,  Mr. 
Nardi  burned  himself  out.  Had  he  been 
more  sparing  of  his  strength,  his  ministry 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  more  pro- 
longed. He  felt  that  he  must  work  while  it 
was  day,  and  so  he  flamed  on,  until  his  light 
swiftly  went  out,  and  he  entered  into  that 
life  where  all  is  light,  where  there  is  no 
weakness,  or  weariness,  or  cessation  of  serv- 
ice, and  where  in  his  Master's  presence  he 
can  realize  that  larger  life  and  perfect  serv- 
ice of  which  he  often  spoke  to  his  congrega- 


lo  Michele  Nardi 

tions.  The  City  Mission  is  glad  that  it  had 
the  privilege  of  having  Mr.  Nardi  in  its 
work  for  so  many  years. 

A.    F.    SCHAUFFLER,   D.D., 

President  N.  Y.  City  Mission  Society. 


Chapter  I 

BIRTH,  EARLY   LIFE,  AND   CON- 
VERSION 

MICHELE  NARDFS  start  in  life  was 
not  without  a  touch  of  romance.  He 
was  born  in  1859,  at  Savignano  di  Romagna, 
Province  of  Forli,  on  the  river  Rubicon ; 
his  birthplace  being  just  where  Julius  Caesar 
had  crossed  it.  His  parents  were  Roman 
Catholics;  his  father,  a  merchant. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  joined  the 
Army  under  Garibaldi  and  was  afterwards 
awarded  two  medals  for  distinguished 
bravery. 

When  he  was  about  nineteen,  he  went  to 
Florence  to  study  Antiquar}^  and  remained 
for  three  years.  It  was  here  that  he 
came  in  contact  with  an  English  family  who 
took  a  great  interest  in  him  and  taught  him 
to  speak  English.  He  also  became  acquaint- 
ed with  many  tourists  from  England  and 
America  who  traveled  through  Italy. 

America 

IT  was  at  the  persuasion  of  some  of  these, 
that  he  came  to  America,  where  he  was 


12  Michele  Nardi 

promised  better  opportunities  than  in  his 
native  land.  Like  many  others,  his  main 
purpose  was  to  attain  wealth. 

As  he  was  of  the  higher  class  of  Italians, 
educated,  of  stately  demeanor,  and  very  gen- 
tle in  manners,  he  won  the  confidence  of  all 
who  knew  him. 

But  upon  his  arrival  in  America  he  found 
that  his  profession  did  not  give  him  a  suffi- 
cient income.  It  was  too  new  a  country  to 
give  much  oportunity  for  antiquarian  stud- 
ies. About  this  time,  another  Italian,  who 
had  been  in  America  some  years  before  and 
had  become  acquainted  with  "Get-rich- 
quick"  methods,  laid  some  plans  before  Mr. 
Nardi  by  which  they  could  make  a  great 
deal  of  money. 

Business  Ventures 

ACCORDINGLY  they  took  contracts 
to  build  railroads,  for  which  purpose 
they  employed  their  fellow  countrymen, 
who  did  their  work  so  well  that  the  Irish, 
who  were  giving  a  lot  of  trouble  and  doing 
inferior  work,  were  set  aside,  and  the  Ital- 
ians flocked  to  this  country  by  the  hundreds. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  13 

These  two  men  were  among  the  first  to  in- 
troduce Italian  labor  into  America. 

But,  by  the  time  they  were  established  in 
their  new-found  joy  of  making  money  by 
the  thousand,  the  Jay  Gould  failure  visited 
them  with  others,  and  for  the  time  ruined 
their  business. 

The  news  of  the  excellent  work  done  by 
these  Italian  contractors  soon  spread.  But 
times  were  very  hard,  and  the  Italians  were 
starving  in  New  York  City. 

In  Pittsburgh,  the  "Molly  Maguire" 
trouble  was  raging.  But  a  few  of  the  mine 
owners  decided  to  try  the  Italians,  of  whose 
good  work  they  had  heard.  The  mine  own- 
ers came  to  New  York,  and  Nardi  and  his 
companion  signed  a  contract  to  mine  coal 
for  a  Pittsburgh  coal  company. 

They  loaded  a  train  with  Italians,  who 
were  glad  to  do  anything  to  keep  from  starv- 
ing. But  when  they  arrived  in  Pittsburgh, 
they  were  met  by  a  raging  mob  who  wanted 
to  kill  the  newcomers,  none  of  whom  could 
speak  English  but  Mr.  Nardi  and  his  part- 
ner. Taking  in  the  situation,  one  of  them 
slipped  out  through  the  throng  and  soon  re- 
turned with  weapons  with  which  to  defend 


14  Michele  Nardi 

themselves.  All  knew  how  to  fight,  and 
they  did  fight,  led  by  Nardi,  and  in  time 
the  ''Molly  I^laguires''  were  driven  out.  But 
for  all  this  trouble  and  danger  (for  they  had 
to  fight  continually  for  their  lives)  they  re- 
ceived no  pay. 

Disappointed  in  this  adventure,  they 
again  returned  to  railroad  contracting  in 
the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania.  Once, 
when  they  had  one  road  almost  completed,  a 
flood  came  and  did  a  great  deal  of  damage, 
destroying  about  twenty  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  work.  But  in  spite  of  these  losses, 
Nardi  was  still  full  of  hope,  and  pressed  on. 

Again  hard  times  set  in,  and  his  Italian 
countrymen  were  starving.  His  heart  went 
out  to  them,  and  he  wanted  to  help 
them.  Hearing  that  a  firm  in  Pittsburgh 
was  anxious  to  get  a  charcoal  that  would 
meet  their  requirements,  he  consulted  some 
of  his  men  who  had  followed  the  business 
of  burning  charcoal  in  Italy,  and,  having 
obtained  the  desired  information,  he  laid  his 
method  before  the  company.  They  at  once 
accepted  his  proposal  and  agreed  to  try  the 
new  charcoal. 

At  the  same  time  a  colony  of  Economites, 


The  Italian  Evangelist  15 

who  had  settled  near  Pittsburgh,  were  clear- 
ing a  large  tract  of  land.  Hearing  of  their 
desire  to  dispose  of  the  lumber,  he  applied 
for  the  contract  to  remove  it.  He  took  sev- 
eral hundred  men  out  in  the  woods,  and  for 
two  years  they  turned  out  the  best  charcoal 
that  had  ever  been  used  in  Pittsburgh  up  to 
that  time.  During  this  time  he  also  acted 
as  Consul  for  the  Italians  in  Pittsburgh. 

Revisits  Italy 

MEANWHILE  he  made  frequent  visits 
to  Italy  to  see  his  mother  and  friends. 

But  during  all  these  ten  years  in  America 
no  one  had  offered  him  a  Bible. 

On  one  of  his  trips  to  Europe  he  met  an 
American  business  man  at  the  Paris  Expo- 
sition in  1878,  who  later  played  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  change  that  occurred  in  Mr. 
Nardi's  life.  The  American  was  exhibiting 
his  patented  articles  at  the  Paris  Exposition 
where  Nardi  joined  him  and  worked  for 
him,  and  they  became  very  intimate.  Mr. 
Nardi  was  a  great  help  to  him  because  of  his 
knowledge  of  French.  He  could  also  speak 
German  fluently,  having  acquired  it  at 
Economy,  among  the  Germans. 


i6  Michele  Nardi 

They  both  returned  to  America  after  the 
Exposition,  Mr.  Nardi  to  his  business  in 
Pittsburgh,  and  the  American  to  his  home. 

But  the  latter,  while  visiting  his  sister,  re- 
ceived vi^hat  she  had  been  praying  and  prais- 
ing God  for,  for  seven  years, — his  salvation. 

Mr.  Nardi  waiS  again  contracting,  and  w^as 
doing  nicely  in  his  business.  He  also  took 
an  interest  in  stocks,  and  by  shrev^d  invest- 
ments v^as  on  his  way  to  acquire  his  desire: 
namely,  wealth. 

New  Religious  Influences 

IT  was  while  in  Philadelphia,  looking  af- 
ter his  business  in  the  Stock  Exchange, 
that  he  again  visited  his  American  friend, 
who  was  no  longer  the  man  he  had  once 
known.  There  were  now  some  things  which 
they  could  no  longer  enjoy  together,  for  as 
the  American  said,  'T  was  dead,  but  now  I 
live."  This  man  had  prayed  much  that  God 
would  show  him  how  to  reach  his  Italian 
friend  with  the  Gospel.  He  asked  him  if  he 
had  ever  read  the  Bible,  to  which  Mr.  Nardi 
answered  "No."  He  said  he  knew  nothing 
about  it,  and  that  no  one  had  ever  ap- 
proached him  concerning  the  things  of  the 


The  Italian  Evangelist  17 

Bible,  although  he  had  lived  among  Protest- 
ants all  these  years.  The  American  then 
asked  him  to  read  the  Bible,  giving  him  a 
large  Bible  of  family  size.  But  Mr.  Nardi 
told  him  he  had  not  the  time  to  read  such  a 
big  book,  so  his  friend  marked  a  portion 
for  him  to  read.  Mr.  Nardi  took  it  to  his 
hotel  to  please  his  friend,  having  promised 
to  read  the  portion  which  was  marked. 

His  Conversion 

WHILE  waiting  for  his  dinner,  he  re- 
membered his  promise  (and  being 
conscientious  he  wished  to  keep  it)  ;  so  he 
turned  to  the  marked  portion  which 
was  John  i :  12.  A  man  of  quick  perception, 
he  at  once  noticed  his  privilege  to  become  a 
son  of  God.  He  immediately  told  the  Lord 
that  he  wanted  to  be  His  son,  and  he  then 
and  there  accepted  Christ  as  his  Saviour, 
and  had  the  joy  of  knowing  his  sins  for- 
given. 

But  while  Mr.  Nardi  was  reading,  there 
were  seven  people  praying  that  God  would 
make  His  Word  life  to  this  Italian  friend. 

Mr.  Nardi  prayed  to  God  in  simple  faith, 
saying,  *'If  Thou  wilt  give  me  power  to  become 


i8  Michele  Nardi 

Thy  son,  I  want  to  be  Thy  son  right  now." 
God  answered  prayer,  and  he  jumped  to 
his  feet  and  said,  "Praise  the  Lord."  Then 
he  heard  the  call  of  God  to  forsake  all  and 
follow  Him. 

So  deep  was  the  work  of  God  in  his  soul 
that  he  went  to  the  Stock  Exchange  at  once 
and  asked  them  to  strike  his  name  from  the 
list.  Mr.  Nardi  had  bought  stocks  at  a  time 
when  their  value  had  dropped,  but  now  they 
were  increasing,  so  that  in  a  few  days  he 
would  have  made  a  large  sum  of  money. 
The  man  in  the  Exchange  thought  he  had 
gone  crazy,  but  he  soon  told  him  of  his  new- 
found joy  and  explained  to  him  w^hy  he  took 
this  attitude. 

He  then  returned  to  Pittsburgh  and  as 
soon  as  possible  closed  out  his  business 
there. 

Separation   and   Meditation 

HE  next  went  to  Economy,  and  taking  his 
English  Bible  and  a  few  blankets,  he 
settled  himself  in  a  little  hut  in  the  woods 
to  study  God's  Word.  For  some  months 
he  lived  in  entire  seclusion.  But  after  much 
persuasion    on    the    part    of    some    of    his 


The  Italian  Evangelist  19 

friends,  who  finally  discovered  his  where- 
abouts, he  forsook  his  little  hut  and  lived 
for  a  while  in  a  private  home.  He  was  dis- 
covered by  some  one's  seeing  the  tracks  in  the 
snow  and  following  them  to  the  little  hut 
where  Nardi  was  living  without  fire  or  furni- 
ture. Once,  when  asked  how  he  kept  warm, 
he  said  it  must  have  been  the  Holy  Spirit  Who 
kept  him  warm. 

While  here  he  studied  his  English  Bible 
(for  he  knew  no  other),  and  soon  he  saw 
that  certain  words  were  used  a  great  many 
times;  so  he  set  those  words  together,  giv- 
ing their  references.  At  the  time  he  thought 
he  had  discovered  something  useful ;  but 
when  he  came  out  of  his  seclusion,  he  found 
that  a  concordance  had  been  in  use  for  many 
years. 

Visits  New  York 

WHILE  in  Economy,  he  received  a 
few  Methodist  papers  in  which  was 
announced  the  Tuesday  afternoon  HoHness 
meeting,  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Palmer, 
316  E.  15th  St.,  New  York.  He  cut  out  this 
address  and  with  several  others  put  it  in  his 
pocket.    He  placed  these  addresses  in  differ- 


20  Michele  Nardi 

ent  pockets  so  that,  in  case  he  should  lose 
one,  he  could  still  find  another.  He  decided 
to  go  to  New  York  and  attend  those 
meetings. 

Denominationalism  did  not  appeal  to  him, 
because  he  could  not  understand  it;  but 
when  he  walked  along  23d  Street,  in  New 
York  City,  one  day,  he  saw  the  sign,  "Gos- 
pel Tabernacle."  He  said  to  himself,  "This 
is  the  place  for  me."  He  attended  the  meet- 
ing and  found  the  teaching  just  what  he  had 
learned  in  his  Bible.  He  there  heard  Dr. 
Simpson,  Major  Cole,  Henry  Varley,  and 
others.  During  one  of  the  services,  an  invi- 
tation was  given  for  any  one  who  wished  to 
dedicate  himself  to  the  Lord  to  come  for- 
ward. Mr.  Nardi  responded,  and  the  above- 
named  with  three  others,  laid  their  hands  on 
him  and  set  him  apart  for  the  Lord's  service. 
He  never  accepted  another  ordination, 
though  many  tried  to  have  him  officially 
ordained. 

About  this  time  the  Camp  Meetings  were 
in  full  swing  at  Ocean  Grove.  He  went 
there,  and  during  one  of  their  meetings  he 
gave  his  testimony  to  what  the  Lord  had 
done  for  him.     Later  he  was  asked  to  give 


The  Italian  Evangelist  21 

it  before  the  assembly  from  the  platform, 
because  all  who  heard  him  were  much  im- 
pressed with  the  sincerity  of  this  one  who 
seemed  to  stand  alone  among  Italians  at  that 
time  in  this  country  as  a  Protestant. 

In  Mrs.  Palmer's  Home 

AMONG  the  many  who  heard  him  was 
Mrs.  Sarah  Palmer  from  New  York 
City,  and  she  was  so  impressed  by  what  he 
said,  as  well  as  by  his  earnestness,  that  she 
afterwards  went  to  the  Gospel  Tabernacle  in 
New  York  and  asked  where  she  might  find 
that  Italian.  She  left  word  with  Mr.  Simp- 
son that  she  wished  to  see  him.  Accord- 
ingly he  went  to  the  Tuesday  afternoon 
meeting  held  in  her  home.  Mrs.  Palmer  had 
a  conference  with  him,  and  after  much  per- 
suasion, he  consented  to  live  in  her  hospit- 
able home.  Her  object  was  to  teach  the 
young  man  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly. 
It  was  while  here  that  he  met  many  holy 
men  and  women  of  God  who  all  left  their 
impress  on  his  character,  among  them  prom- 
inent Methodist  Bishops  and  leaders  in  the 
church,  who  were  entertained  at  Mrs.  Pal- 
mer's home  during  those  four  years. 


22  Michele  Nardi 

Bible  Training 

DURING  these  years  he  became  root- 
ed and  grounded  in  the  truth,  which 
must  have  had  much  to  do  with  his  success 
in  later  years.  He  also  did  much  personal 
work  among  his  own  countrymen  in  hospi- 
tals, and  prisons,  and  among  the  fruit-ven- 
ders of  New  York.  At  this  time  there  was 
only  one  Italian  Protestant  church  in  New 
York,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  Antonio 
Arrighi. 

He  took  every  opportunity  to  hear  the 
best  Bible  teachers  and  frequently  attended 
the  lectures  at  the  Missionary  Training 
School,  though  he  was  not  an  enrolled  stu- 
dent. But  his  one  book  and  instructor  was 
the  Bible. 

The  success  of  his  work  among  the  Ital- 
ian unfortunates  was  so  evident  that  even 
the  Italian  Press  gave  him  recognition  and 
wrote  occasional  accounts  of  it.  In  one  of 
these  articles  they  used  this  beautiful  expres- 
sion— ''They  could  point  to  him  and  say, 
'There  goes  the  man  who  was  born  with  the 
Golden  heart.'  " 

Up  to  this  time  he  did  not  feel  led  to  open 


The  Italian  Evangelist  23 

any  regular  mission  among  his  people,  but 
confined  his  efforts  to  doing  personal  work 
and  speaking  in  other  missions  and 
churches. 

Marriage 

DURING  the  few  years  that  he  was  in 
New  York,  he  met  one  of  the  students 
at  the  Missionary  Training  School,  Miss 
Blanche  Phillips,  who  afterwards  became  his 
wife.  They  were  married  in  the  home  of  Mr. 
Kinney  at  Sing  Sing,  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Simpson. 
The  ceremony  was  very  impressive,  Mr.  Nardi 
following  it,  while  they  were  still  kneel- 
ing, by  prayer.  Even  the  colored  caterer 
said  that  it  was  a  holy  marriage.  The  invi- 
tations to  the  wedding  had  on  them  this  in- 
scription, ''Both  Jesus  and  His  disciples  were 
called  to  the  marriage."  The  power  of  the 
Lord  was  surely  present,  to  which  the 
guests  all  testified. 


Chapter  II 
EVANGELISTIC  WORK 

AFTER  a  few  months  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Nardi  left  for  the  West,  to  begin  their 
pioneer  work  among  their  dear  Italians. 
Their  first  stopping  place  was  East  Pitts- 
burgh, where  they  visited  the  sister  of  Mrs. 
Nardi  and  found  to  their  glad  surprise  sev- 
eral hundred  Italian  laborers  working  on  a 
new  car  track,  on  Highland  Avenue.  They 
immediately  began  visiting  them  in  their 
shanties,  distributing  tracts  during  the  day, 
and  visiting  in  the  homes  at  night.  They 
spent  all  day  Sunday  with  them  and 
preached  to  them  in  the  open  air.  One  Sun- 
day morning  in  particular  that  Mrs.  Nardi 
recalls,  they  went  out  on  a  vacant  lot  back 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
there  Mr.  Nardi  preached  in  power  to  a 
large  crowd  who  had  gathered,  and  many 
listened  from  their  windows  and  back  yards. 
At  the  close  of  the  meeting  there  were  nine 
who  bought  Bibles  from  a  representative  of 


The  Italian  Evangelist  25 

the  Bible  Society  who  was  present.  Some 
Irish  Catholics  who  were  present  called  out 
"Protestant !  Protestant !"  and  at  once  some 
of  those  who  had  bought  the  Bibles  became 
frightened  and  brought  the  Bibles  back ;  but 
Mr.  Nardi  soon  assured  them  that  they  con- 
tained the  true  Gospel  of  Salvation,  after 
which  they  kept  them.  For  about  six  weeks 
they  continued  their  work  among  the  Ital- 
ians of  Pittsburgh. 

About  this  time  they  heard  that  great 
numbers  of  Italians  were  in  Chicago,  and 
Mr.  Nardi  felt  called  to  go  to  preach  to 
them  also.  However,  the  work  in  Pitts- 
burgh had  its  lasting  effect,  for  a  few  ladies 
became  interested  in  the  work  among  the 
Italians,  and  soon  started  a  mission  which 
later  developed  into  the  Italian  Presbyter- 
ian Church  in  East  Liberty.  These  ladies 
extended  a  call  to  a  young  Waldensian  min- 
ister directly  from  Italy  who  responded  to 
the  call  and  was  much  used  of  God  in  the 
early  days  of  the  mission.  Mr.  Nardi  fre- 
quently visited  the  field.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  several  Italian  Churches  and 
Missions  in  Pittsburgh  and  vicinity. 


26  Michele  Nardi 

Other  Cities  Also 

S0M1{  Temperance  ladies  in  New  Castle 
heard  of  the  Italian  Evangelist  in 
Pittsburgh  and  gave  him  an  invitation  to 
come  and  speak  to  the  Italians  in  that 
town.  They  went  and  visited  them  in  their 
homes,  distributing  tracts,  gospels,  and  Bi- 
bles, and  many  were  converted.  Beaver 
Falls  and  Carbon  Hill  were  also  visited  and 
meetings  held  at  these  places,  and  tracts, 
Gospels,  and  Bibles  distributed  from 
shanty  to  shanty  and  house  to  house 
through  the  snow.  The  opposition  on  the 
part  of  some  was  awful,  but  others  received 
the  Word  gladly  and  became  new  creatures 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

While  they  opened  no  missions  at  these 
places,  they  sowed  the  seed,  and  others  fol- 
lowed to  reap.  There  are  now  promising 
churches  and  missions  in  these  places 
which  were  started  since  their  first  visit. 

Their  work  was  not  confined  to  the  Ital- 
ians, but  Mr.  Nardi  also  preached  to  Amer- 
icans everywhere  he  went. 

They  also  visited  Youngstown  and  spent 
one   month   in  work  for  the   Master  there. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  z-j 

The  Italians  in  these  towns  were  employed 
in  quarrying  stone  and  doing  similar  work,  and 
lived  in  mere  huts.  One  Sunday  morning 
they  went  through  the  field  of  snow  to  the 
stone  quarry  to  a  little  shanty  where  they 
found  five  Italians ;  one  was  rolling  out  the 
macaroni,  and  one  was  reading  the  Gospel. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  sat  down  on  oil  cans 
(chairs  were  not  in  evidence)  and  had  a 
meeting  with  them. 

Once  when  they  had  announced  a  meet- 
ing, the  Italians  prepared  for  the  service  by 
erecting  an  altar,  draping  it  nicely,  setting 
the  cross  on  it,  and  lighting  the  candles, — 
and  while  they  were  waiting,  they  smoked  in 
the  same  room.  It  showed  their  interest  on 
one  hand  and  their  need  to  know  the  truth  on 
the  other. 

Some  of  those  who  were  converted  returned 
later  to  Italy  and  have  been  among  the  Pro- 
testant leaders  there.  They  carried  the  Gos- 
pel (their  new-found  treasure)  to  their  loved 
ones  in  Italy,  and  some  of  the  most  substan- 
tial work  there  has  been  done  by  those  con- 
verted in  America. 


28  Michele  Nardi 

Chicago 


't3' 


ARRIVING  in  Chicago,  they  inquired 
where  the  Itahans  had  their  settlement, 
and  were  told  that  they  could  find  many  of 
them  on  South  Clark  Street.  Finding  them  in 
great  numbers  in  the  streets,  they  at  once  be- 
gan their  work  among  them  in  the  open  air. 

While  attending  a  noon-day  prayer  meeting, 
a  Christian  brother  offered  the  use  of  the 
second  floor  of  his  coal  office  for  a  Mission 
to  the  Italians  in  "Hell's  Half  Acre,"  which 
was  considered  the  worst  part  of  Chicago. 
They  accepted  the  offer  and  set  about  at 
once  to  get  it  in  order,  by  cleaning,  scouring, 
and  whitewashing,  until  it  was  quite  a  nice 
hall.  The  neighborhood  was  so  bad  that  the 
man  did  not  want  to  rent  those  rooms  to  any 
one  else,  so  he  was  glad  to  let  it  out  free  of 
charge  as  a  Mission  Hall.  The  first  seats 
were  made  of  planks  which  had  been  stored 
on  the  roof,  and  an  old  organ  which  they 
found  about  the  building  was  their  first  musi- 
cal  instrument. 

The  first  meeting  was  held  on  Sunday  after- 
noon. Mr.  Nardi  went  down  on  the  streets 
and  invited  the  men  to  come  in  and  hear  the 


The  Italian  Evangelist  29 

Gospel.  They  asked  ''Where?"  and  he  said, 
"Come  and  see."  Seven  followed  him,  and 
he  preached  to  them.  The  hall  soon  filled  up, 
and  the  work  grew  rapidly.  Some  American 
ladies,  who  became  interested  in  the  work, 
wanted  to  do  something  for  these  needy  peo- 
ple. They  opened  a  Polytechnic  school  for  the 
boys  and  girls  in  the  neighborhood  who  were 
newsboys  and  girls  and  bootblacks,  and  also 
a  kindergarten  for  the  little  ones  in  the  morn- 
ings. Some  of  the  workers  from  the  Bible 
Society  came  down  and  opened  a  Sunday- 
school  and  a  sewing  school.  So  the  work 
prospered.  Much  could  be  said  about  what 
God  did  among  these  Italians,  if  space  per- 
mitted. 

There  were  a  few  Evangelical  families  of 
the  Waldensian  Church  of  Italy  who  lived 
on  the  North  Side  of  Chicago.  Hearing  of 
Mr.  Nardi  and  the  meeting,  they  came  to  the 
South  Clark  Street  Mission  and  brought  with 
them  Italian  hymn  books.  They  then  per- 
suaded Mr.  Nardi  to  come  over  on  the  North 
Side  and  hold  meetings  in  their  colony.  For 
several  weeks  he  preached  to  them  in  a  Scan- 
dinavian Y.  M.  C.  A.  every  Sunday  night. 
This,  however,  was  only  a  temporary  abode. 


30  Michele  Nardi 

About  this  time  ^Ir.  Nardi  met  Mr.  Sim- 
mons, a  godly  man,  Land  Commissioner  for 
the  Northwestern  Railroad,  who  used  his  in- 
fluence to  secure  the  R.  R.  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hall 
right  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Italians.  They 
gave  the  hall, — heat,  light,  and  all — free  of 
charge  for  a  few  years,  and  it  was  here  that 
the  first  Italian  Church  of  Chicago  was  or- 
ganized with  a  membership  of  54,  April  17th, 
1892. 

A  large  colony  of  Italians  were  found  living 
on  the  Southwest  side  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Nardi 
felt  led  of  the  Lord  to  open  a  work  here. 
Renting  a  cottage  of  five  rooms,  he  tore  down 
all  the  partitions,  making  one  large  hall  which 
seated  150  people.  The  rent  was  fifteen  dol- 
lars a  month. 

Here  they  had  much  persecution  from  the 
Irish  Catholics.  But  the  Lord  mightily 
blessed  all  three  Missions.  Here  also  the 
Bible  Society  workers  came  to  their  help,  and 
soon  there  was  a  large  Sunday-school,  and 
sewing  school,  and  evening  classes  in  English 
where  the  Bible  was  the  text-book.  In  this 
way  many  were  caught  in  the  net.  Much 
might  be  said  of  the  work  done  in  these  three 
Missions. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  31 

About  this  time  they  felt  their  need  of  a 
helper,  and  a  Waldensian  minister,  Mr.  Theo- 
philus  Gai  from  Italy,  while  in  this  country 
collecting  money  for  the  work  in  Italy,  came  to 
Chicago,  and,  hearing  of  the  Italian  work, 
came  to  visit  Mr.  Nardi.  This  was  the  first 
time  Mr.  Nardi  had  met  a  real  Waldensian 
(that  is,  a  Waldensian  born).  Mr.  Gai  went 
with  Mr.  Nardi  from  mission  to  mission  and 
was  greatly  surprised  at  the  power  of  God 
manifested  among  the  Italians.  Mr.  Nardi 
asked  him  if  he  could  send  him  a  young  man 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  who  would  come. 
He  replied  that  he  had  a  'Veal  Barnabas" 
who  had  been  in  America  but  was  now  in 
Italy. 

Up  to  this  time  the  work  had  been  done  in- 
dependently trusting  only   in  the   Lord,   and 
appealing  to  no  one  for  financial  help. 
The  Work  Taken  Over  by  the 
Presbyterians 

BUT  now  the  work  had  become  known  to 
the  Presbyterians,  and  they  offered  to 
take  hold  of  it  and  pay  the  salary  of  the 
young  minister  when  he  would  come.  Ere 
long  Mr.  Grilli  came  from  Italy  and  took  hold 
of  the  work  with  great  enthusiasm. 


32  Michele  Nardi 

For  some  time  it  was  felt  that  a  building  of 
their  own  on  the  North  Side  was  needed.  A 
Mr.  Willing,  of  the  Fourth  Presbyterian 
Church,  gave  ten  thousand  dollars  for  this 
purpose,  and  a  very  neat  church  building  was 
soon  erected  on  West  Ohio  Street.  The  Mis- 
sion then  removed  from  the  R.  R.  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
hall  to  the  new  church. 

Italian  Work 

THE  Presbyterian  Board  of  Chicago  short- 
ly after  pubUshed  the  following  report — 
in  the  Interior: 

''The  work  among  the  Italians  in  our  own 
Presbytery  has  two  principal  centers,  the 
Italian  church  at  73  West  Ohio  street,  near 
Halsted,  and  the  Nardi  Mission  at  148  West 
Taylor  street.  The  latter  was  named  for  Sig- 
nor  Nardi  who  was  among  the  first  to  inaugur- 
ate Protestant  mission  work  among  the  Ital- 
ians in  Chicago.  The  recital  of  the  experi- 
ences of  Signor  Nardi  since  he  first  came  to 
this  country  is  in  itself  most  interesting. 
Finely  educated  and  an  artist  of  note,  he  came 
to  America  to  be  an  art  critic.  Arriving  in 
New  York  City,  his  attention  was  ar- 
rested   by    the    distress    among   his    country- 


The  Italian  Evangelist  33 

men  in  and  around  Five  Points,  and  he 
at  once  began  the  study  of  bettering 
their  condition.  The  further  he  investigated, 
the  more  enthused  he  became  and  finally  de- 
cided to  abandon  art  for  the  time  being.  He 
submitted  a  plan  to  one  of  the  eastern  rail- 
roads to  take  a  contract  for  building  their 
road-bed  using  only  Italians  as  laborers,  him- 
self superintending  the  work.  His  proposi- 
tion was  accepted;  and  although  it  created 
quite  a  furor  among  the  Irish  and  American 
laborers,  as  many  will  recall,  it  was  success- 
fully carried  out.  At  that  time  he  refused  all 
religions,  even  that  of  his  mother  country, 
and  not  until  some  months  later  did  he  accept 
Christ  and  his  teachings.  After  studying  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Simpson 
of  New  York  city,  Mr.  Nardi  and  his  wife, 
also  a  student  of  Dr.  Simpson's,  began  evan- 
gelistic work,  coming  to  Chicago  in  1889.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Nardi  together  with  workers  of  the 
Chicago  Bible  society  held  meetings  in  cot- 
tages, on  street  corners,  or  visited  from 
house  to  house,  giving  the  gospel  to  Italians 
whenever  opportunity  presented  itself,  the 
Bible  society  furnishing  tracts  and  portions 
of  Scripture  for  distribution.     The  following 


34  Michele  Nardi 

spring  Mr.  Nardi  secured  a  room  at  505  South 
Clark  street  and  organized  a  Sunday-school. 
About  the  same  time  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  gave  the  use  of  their  hall 
near  Kinzie  street  bridge  for  another  Sun- 
day-school. It  was  at  this  latter  place  that 
the  first  communion  service  among  Protes- 
tant Italians  was  held,  and  the  growing  in- 
terest soon  centered  in  that  district.  There 
was  a  Waldensian  element  which  formed  the 
nucleus  of  a  church,  and  God's  blessing  was 
manifest  in  frequent  conversions.  By  the 
following  winter  a  few  friends  became  inter- 
ested in  the  progress  of  the  work,  and  among 
them  was  the  ever  to  be  remembered  friend 
of  the  Nardi  Mission,  Mrs.  S.  G.  Hubbard, 
whose  devoted  efforts  for  the  Italians  are 
still  continued.  In  1893  the  Chicago  Pres- 
bytery permanently  located  a  church  and  re- 
quested Mr.  Nardi  to  become  its  regular  pas- 
tor, but  he  declined,  believing  that  God  had 
called  him  to  evangelistic  work.  A  call  was  ex- 
tended to  the  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  Filippo 
Grilli,  who  began  his  pastorate  early  in  the 
autumn  of  1890,  with  a  church  membership  of 
fifty-eight.  In  1894  the  present  substantial 
brick  edifice  on  Ohio  street  was  erected,  due 


The  Italian  Evangelist  35 

largely  to  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Henry  Will- 
ing. In  1 89 1  Mr.  Nardi  opened  the  third  mis- 
sion, which  had  its  beginning  on  Desplaines 
street  and  continued  there  until  a  more  suit- 
able building  and  location  were  secured  on 
Taylor  street,  now  called  the  Nardi  Mission. 
The  work  begun  on  South  Clark  street  was 
subsequently  merged  with  that  of  the  Metho- 
dist Mission,  and  a  most  excellent  work  is 
being  accomplished.  Pastor  Grilli  preaches 
and  carries  on  the  work  at  both  the  Italian 
church  and  Nardi  Mission.  Mrs.  Grilli  is  a 
most  proficient  helper  as  is  also  Mrs.  R. 
Francesconi,  who  is  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday-school  in  the  Italian  church.  Beside 
the  regular  preaching  services,  conducted 
always  in  Italian,  there  is  a  splendid  Sunday- 
school,  sewing  school,  a  mother's  meeting,  and 
a  Bible  class  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Bible  society.  The  work  is  a  continual  en- 
couragement to  those  who  are  giving  their 
services,  and  the  wonder  is  that  these  Italians 
have  carried  their  church  and  mission  to 
such  a  successful  standing  with  so  little 
money.  Members  of  the  church  who  have  re- 
turned to  Italy  have  started  circles  there 
looking  toward  the  organizing  of  a  church. 


36  Michele  Nardi 

The  Evangelical  church  of  Italy,  which  is 
the  union  of  all  the  Protestant  churches  on 
the  peninsula,  report  five  new  churches  added 
to  its  roll  during  1897,  giving  a  total  of  thirty 
Protestant  churches.  About  1,000  persons 
have  come  into  close  fellowship  within  the 
past  year." 

E.  Dryer,  Chicago. 

Among  the  Miners 

MR.  NARDI  now  felt  that  he  had  time 
to  visit  the  collieries.  A  superintend- 
ent of  coal  mines  at  Spring  Valley,  fifty  miles 
from  Chicago,  a  Presbyterian  who  had  heard 
of  the  good  work  that  was  being  done  in  Chi- 
cago, invited  Mr.  Nardi  to  come  down  and 
see  what  he  could  do  for  the  Italians  who 
worked  in  the  mines.  The  Italian  colony  there 
was  composed  of  Italians  from  the  northern 
part  of  Italy.  Many  of  them  were  well  edu- 
cated, but  not  having  the  English  language, 
worked  in  the  mines.  However,  they  earned 
as  much  as  four  dollars  a  day  if  they  were 
good  workmen. 

A  hall  was  rented,  and  work  began.     Sing- 
ing was  quite  a  drawing  card,  as  some  of  the 


The  Italian  Evangelist  37 

men  had  been  opera  singers  in  Italy.  When 
they  were  taught  the  beautiful  Itahan  hymns, 
''Safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus,"  etc.,  they  sang 
them  with  such  force  that  they  could  be  heard 
all  over  the  town  during  the  service.  In  the 
day  time,  when  these  men  were  about  two 
thousand  feet  under  the  groimd,  they  would 
sing  the  hymns  there,  especially  "Safe  in  the 
arms  of  Jesus." 

The  majority  of  the  population  of  this  town 
were  Irish  Catholics,  so  that  they  even  con- 
trolled the  public  schools,  and  the  Protestants 
had  to  send  their  children  to  the  Catholic 
school.  As  soon  as  the  Irish  priests  saw  what 
Mr.  Nardi  was  doing,  they  sent  off  for  an 
Italian  priest.  He  was  a  good  musician,  and, 
to  counteract  Mr.  Nardi's  work,  he  opened 
evening  classes  in  music.  But  the  Lord  was 
with  Mr.  Nardi  in  his  meetings  and  in  the 
distribution  of  Gospels  and  tracts.  The  Ital- 
ian priest  came  to  him  and  had  a  talk  with 
him,  but  the  priest  was  so  bound  that  he 
could  not  let  go. 

As  many  Italians  were  eager  to  learn  Eng- 
lish, Mr.  Nardi  taught  it  to  them  from  the 
English  Bible,  and  used  the  opportunity  to 
preach  the  Gospel  at  the  same  time,  and  they 


38  Michele  Nardi 

soon  became  more  interested  in  the  Gospel 
than  in  learning  the  English. 

Mrs.  Nardi  remembers  an  incident  that  oc- 
curred while  in  Spring  Valley.  A  miner,  who 
was  also  a  Methodist  preacher,  meeting  them 
on  the  street  one  day,  said  to  Mr.  Nardi,  '*I 
know  you  are  a  Christian,  for  your  face  is  the 
picture  of  the  Gospel."  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi 
were  glad  to  find  this  one  and  others  with 
whom  they  could  have  fellowship.  Mr.  Nardi 
often  also  preached  in  English  in  the  Congre- 
gational pulpit  in  the  town. 

As  the  work  grew,  it  was  felt  necessary  to 
organize,  and  a  Waldensian  minister,  Rev. 
Mr.  Bellour,  was  called  to  take  charge. 

The  Italians  became  so  much  attached  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  and  the  Gospel  that  they 
preached,  that  they  did  not  care  to  go  to 
their  Catholic  priest,  but  said,  *'Mr.  Nardi  is 
our  priest." 

They  had  now  spent  about  five  years  in 
Chicago  and  Spring  Valley.  The  Lord 
wonderfully  answered  prayer  and  supplied 
every  need,  without  any  appeals  for  help  to 
any  one  except  the  Lord.  Many  were  con- 
verted during  those  years  who  still  stand  firm 
in  the  Christian  faith. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  39 

Mrs.  Nardi  never  knew  of  any  work  so 
near  the  Apostolic  times  as  that  in  Chicago. 
As  soon  as  the  people  were  converted,  they 
became  personal  workers  and  held  cottage 
prayer  meetings  and  became  real  soul-win- 
ners. 

These  were  years  when  Mr.  Nardi  spared 
no  strength  in  open  air  and  in  halls  both  in 
season  and  out  of  season.  During  this  time 
he  took  a  trip  east  for  one  month,  visiting 
friends  and  some  of  the  work  that  he  had  left 
in  New  York,  in  the  interest  of  Italian  Evan- 
gelization. Mrs.  Nardi  remained  in  Chicago 
looking  after  the  work  until  Mr.  Nardi  re- 
turned. On  his  way  home,  he  sent  a  tele- 
gram giving  the  time  when  he  would  arrive. 
She  sat  by  the  window  waiting  for  his  com- 
ing. But  he  did  not  come  at  the  appointed 
time.  But  she  waited  on,  expecting  him  every 
moment. 

She  says:  "After  I  had  waited  for  some 
time,  seated  in  the  bay  window  by  the  door, 
the  rest  of  the  people  in  the  house  retired, 
telling  me  there  was  no  use  in  sitting  up  longer, 
for  he  would  not  come  that  night ;  it  was  past 
the  appointed  time.  But  I  waited  on.  Finally, 
all  had  retired  except  Miss  Dryer  (the  lady 


40  Michele  Nardi 

in  charge  of  the  Bible  Workers'  home).  As 
she  passed  through  the  room  with  her  lamp  in 
her  hand,  she  said,  'He  has  delayed  his  com- 
ing; there  is  no  use  of  waiting  any  longer.' 
But  I  answered,  'He  promised  to  come,  and  I 
shall  wait  until  he  does  come,'  so  she  went 
away  and  left  me  alone.  In  the  stillness  of 
the  night  I  heard  a  voice  saying,  'He  will  be 
here  in  a  few  minutes.'  With  this  assurance 
I  lifted  my  head  in  real  expectation,  and  had 
not  long  to  wait,  for  the  tip-tap-tap  on  the 
window  pane  showed  he  had  indeed  come. 
At  that  moment  the  same  voice  spoke  again, 
and  said,  'It  will  be  like  this  before  the  Lord 
comes :  the  Bride  will  know  it  a  little  while 
before  He  comes/  " 

Work  in  St.  Louis 

THE  good  news  of  God's  working  among 
the  Italians  of  Chicago  reaching  St. 
Louis,  Mrs.  Haines,  a  woman  of  real  faith, 
invited  them  to  come  to  her  city.  The  Italians 
of  St.  Louis  were  mostly  from  the  southern 
part  of  Italy,  Sicilians.  We  opened  a  hall 
in  the  midst  of  their  colony,  and  many  came 
to  hear  the  Word  gladly.     These  ItaHans  are 


The  Italian  Evangelist  41 

very  superstitious,  yet  they  are  open  to  the 
Gospel.  The  work  went  on  much  the  same 
as  in  other  places;  preaching,  and  Sunday- 
school  classes,  and  sewing  classes,  and  then, 
after  the  work  was  established  at  the  end  of 
about  a  year's  labor,  a  Waldensian  pastor  and 
his  wife  were  called  by  the  Presbyterian 
Board  to  take  up  the  work.  They  remained 
here  for  nine  years  and  then  returned  to  Italy, 
where  they  are  doing  a  good  work. 

There  was  a  French  settlement  where  Mr. 
Nardi  also  preached  the  Gospel  in  French, 

Mr.  Nardi  now  more  clearly  understood 
the  calling  of  God  to  evangelize.  So  he  re- 
turned to  Chicago  and  visited  the  Missions 
and  encouraged  those  in  charge  of  the  work. 

California 

ONE  cold  winter  night  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Nardi  said  good-bye  to  their  friends  in 
Chicago  and  boarded  the  train  for  San 
Francisco,  arriving  there  after  a  few  days  and 
finding  the  roses  in  full  bloom.  It  seemed  to 
them  another  world.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mont- 
gomery met  them  at  the  station  and  took 
them  to  their  home,  Beulah. 


42  Michele  Nardi 

From  here  they  crossed  the  Bay  to  San 
Francisco  where  there  was  a  large  colony  of 
Italians,  mostly  from  Northern  Italy. 

Mr.  Nardi  at  once  started  looking  around 
for  a  hall  where  he  might  gather  the  people, 
and  found  a  building  belonging  to  the  Italians 
called  Bersagliere  Hall,  with  many  halls  which 
were  used  for  balls,  theatres,  Masonic  Lodges, 
etc.,  but  they  willingly  rented  one  of  the  large 
rooms  at  such  a  low  price  that  Mr.  Nardi  in- 
sisted on  paying  more. 

The  work  began  and,  as  before,  the  Lord 
blessed  them,  and  sent  in  many  to  hear  the 
Word.  The  Sunday  school  and  sewing  school 
classes  were  attended  by  more  than  one  hun- 
dred children ;  some  had  to  be  turned  away. 

Here  they  had  a  class  of  French  children, 
also  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  who  also  came 
to  the  services.  There  was  much  persecution 
as  the  work  was  in  the  midst  of  Irish,  Italian, 
Spanish,  and  Russian  Catholic  churches.  The 
priest  came  even  to  the  door  of  the  hall  and 
forbade  the  children  to  come  in.  One  day  he 
came  to  the  door,  and  Mr.  Nardi  went  down 
and  spoke  to  him.  The  priest  said,  'T  am 
the  father  of  these  children."  Mr.  Nardi  said. 
"No,    you    are    not;    God    is    their    Father 


The  Italian  Evangelist  43 

Another  time  the  priest  threw  his  cane  at  the 
children.  Again  Mr.  Nardi  and  the  priest 
were  arguing  while  walking  along  the  street, 
and  soon  about  thirty  children  were  following 
them  and  the  grown  people  looking  on.  As 
soon  as  the  priest  saw  that,  he  said  good-bye 
and  left  Mr.  Nardi.  The  children  then  fol- 
lowed Mr.  Nardi  back  to  the  hall,  saying  they 
would  never  go  to  that  priest  again. 

Mr.  Nardi  had  already  won  the  confidence 
of  many  of  the  influential  Italians  of  the  city. 
They  saw  in  him  the  love  of  God  and  the  love 
of  his  countrymen,  and  said  he  was  a  rare 
man.  God  had  peculiarly  fitted  him  for  just 
such  work ;  he  was  unique  in  personaUty,  wise 
in  judgment,  and  full  of  tact  and  sweetness. 
All  who  knew  him  remember  his  genial  smile 
and  ever  ready  salutation,  "Praise  the  Lord." 

The  Catholic  Journal  of  the  city  wrote  an 
article  against  him,  even  saying  that  he  ought 
to  have  a  mill-stone  hanged  about  his  neck  and 
be  drowned  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  They 
marked  this  article  and  sent  it  to  him.  He  did 
not  reply  to  it.  But  the  Italian  paper  and  also 
an  anti-Clerical,  "The  Wasp,"  took  it  up  and 
answered  it  much  better  than  they  could  have 
done.    This  was  all  in  their  favor  and  against 


44  Michele  Nardi 

the    priests.      Again    they    were    conquerors 
through  our  God. 

After  a  year,  feeUng  the  need  of  a  helper, 
a  Waldensian  minister  was  called,  who  went 
on  with  the  work,  supported  by  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  then 
went  across  the  Bay  to  Oakland,  where  they 
had  a  beautiful  hall  in  the  Methodist  Church. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  there  were  people  who  be- 
came interested  in  the  work  and  came  to  their 
help  and  acted  in  the  capacity  of  teachers  in 
the  schools. 

Needs  Supplied 

DURING  this  time  the  Lord  supplied  all 
their  needs  without  looking  to  man. 
"Once,"  says  Mrs.  Nardi,  "we  asked  Him  for 
sixty  dollars,  and  in  a  few  days  a  check  of 
fifty  dollars  came  from  Chicago.  I  said  to 
Mr.  Nardi,  'But  where  are  the  other  ten?' 
He  said,  'The  Lord  will  provide.'  When  he 
took  the  check  to  the  bank,  they  refused  to 
cash  it  because  the  lady  had  forgotten  to  put 
her  name  on  it.  So  he  returned  the  check  to 
her.  When  the  check  came  back,  lo !  it  was 
sixty  dollars.     The  lady  said  she  thought  she 


The  Italian  Evangelist  45 

might  as  well  add  another  ten,  not  knowing 
that  we  had  prayed  for  the  sixty.  We  always 
avoided  using  the  phrase,  'We  live  by  faith,' 
as  every  Christian,  even  a  milUonaire,  must 
hve  by  faith,  but  surely,  'The  just  shall  live  by 
faith.'    The  Lord  never  failed  us." 

One  morning  Mr.  Nardi  was  in  one  room 
asking  the  Lord  for  one  hundred  dollars,  and 
Mrs.  Nardi  was  in  another  room  asking  for 
the  same  amount;  neither  knowing  what  the 
other  was  doing.  That  very  day  a  sister  in 
Christ  said  to  Mrs.  Nardi,  "Blanche,  the  Lord 
told  my  husband  to  give  Mr.  Nardi  one  hun- 
dred dollars.  Is  there  really  a  need?"  She 
replied,  "Praise  the  Lord,  the  connections  are 
clear." 

San  Jose 

IN  San  Jose,  a  beautiful  town  about  fifty 
miles  from  San  Francisco,  they  also 
opened  a  work  and  rented  a  house  just  oppo- 
site the  Notre  Dame  Convent,  but  the  owner 
of  the  house  was  an  Irish  Catholic ;  and  when 
he  found  out  that  they  were  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  Italians  who  came  and  listened 
with  eyes  and  mouths  wide  open,  just  drink- 
ing it  in,  he  requested  them  to  move.     Mr. 


46  Michele  Nardi 

Nardi  had  a  long  talk  with  him,  explaining  to 
him  the  way  of  salvation  from  the  Scriptures, 
of  which  he  was  entirely  ignorant.  But  as  the 
priests  and  his  mother  were  behind  him,  he 
requested  them  to  leave,  They  then  rented  a 
beautiful  Y.  M.  C.  A,  hall  and  carried  on  a 
blessed  work  for  a  year  or  so.  The  fragrant 
memories  of  those  days  were  sweeter  to  them 
than  the  flowers  that  grow  in  California. 

New  Fields 

WHILE  in  these  parts,  they  also  went 
in  the  summer  time  more  than  once 
to  the  Casadero  Camp  Meeting  held  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Montgomery,  not  thinking  to  find 
Italians  under  the  big  Redwoods.  But  almost 
one  of  the  first  ones  they  saw  on  the  ground 
was  an  Italian  fruit  vender,  through  whom 
they  learned  that  about  ten  miles  away  where 
he  lived  there  was  a  colony  of  Italian  lumber- 
men. 

Mr.  Nardi  invited  them  to  the  camp  for  a 
Sunday  service,  and  they  came  and  had  good 
meetings.  They  were  taught  some  Italian 
hymns  and  received  Gospels  and  tracts. 
Among  them  were  some  who  had  worked  for 
Mr.    Nardi    in    Economy    near    Pittsburgh. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  47 

Once  during  a  meeting  in  the  fine  natural  au- 
ditorium there,  nine  ItaUans  came  forward, 
among  others,  to  seek  the  Lord.  At  one  time 
about  six  weeks  were  spent  here  working 
among  the  ItaUans. 

Mr.  Nardi  printed  a  sign  in  large  letters, 
"Praise  the  Lord,"  and  nailed  it  on  a  tree 
near  the  railroad  so  that  the  people  passing  by 
the  camp  on  the  train  had  to  see  it  and  say 
"Praise  the  Lord." 

Hearing  that  there  were  many  Italians  in 
Southern  California  who  had  not  heard  the 
Gospel,  Mr.  Nardi  made  plans  to  visit  them 
also.  But  about  this  time  Rev.  Mr.  GrilU,  of 
Chicago,  returned  to  Italy  to  visit  his  mother, 
and  asked  Mr.  Nardi  to  come  on  and  look 
after  the  work  during  his  absence.  Mrs. 
Nardi  remained  in  San  Francisco. 

Back  in  Chicago 

THERE  was  need  of  a  new  building  on 
the  southwest  side  of  Chicago.  Mrs. 
Hubbard,  who  had  paid  the  rent  of  the  hall 
for  years,  asked  Mr.  Nardi  to  look  about  for 
a  good  lot,  and  they  would  pray  the  Lord  to 
send  the  money.  The  Lord  answered  prayer 
in    Mrs.    Hubbard's    receiving    unexpectedly 


48  Michele  Nardi 

some  money  that  was  owed  to  her.  The  lot 
was  bought,  and  a  neat  building  erected  with 
these  funds  which  she  felt  had  been  sent  her 
in  answer  to  prayer.  The  material  was 
bought  from  the  'World's  Fair"  buildings, 
which  reduced  the  cost  of  this  work. 

After  it  was  finished,  this  new  building  was 
named  after  the  founder,  ''The  Nardi  Mis- 
sion." Pastor  Grilli  returned  from  Italy  after 
five  months,  and  Mr.  Nardi  returned  to  San 
Francisco,  and  from  there  they  went  to  Los 
Angeles.  Here  he  found  many  Christians  to 
welcome  him.  Renting  a  hall  in  the  Italian 
colony,  they  began  work  here  as  in  other 
places,  and  had  much  blessing  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  tracts  and  Gospels,  etc.  But  Mr.  Nar- 
di, finding  the  climate  too  enervating,  felt  they 
should  come  East  and  visit  the  churches  which 
had  been  opened.  They  had  spent  five  years 
in  California,  and  left  behind  them  many  who 
had  found  their  Saviour  in  those  years. 


Chapter  III 
RETURN  TO  ITALY 

THEIR  first  stop  was  St.  Louis ;  then  Chi- 
cago, Spring  Valley,  Pittsburgh  and  vi- 
cinity, and  the  East. 

Mr.  Nardi  then  felt  a  strong  call  to  go  and 
preach  the  Gospel  in  Italy  among  those  whose 
faith  was  once  known  all  over  the  world,  but 
who  were  now  sitting  in  darkness  and  the 
shadow  of  death. 

They  stayed  a  little  while  in  New  York  be- 
fore leaving,  and  were  persuaded  of  the  Lord 
to  take  with  them  a  young  Italian  girl  who 
was  confined  in  a  convent  in  upper  New  York. 
Her  teachers  did  not  like  to  give  her  into  the 
hands  of  a  Protestant  minister;  but  since  she 
was  going  to  Italy,  they  thought  she  would 
be  safe  in  the  hands  of  the  Pope. 

They  sailed  on  the  St.  Paul  and  arrived  in 
Italy  in  August.  Their  first  stop  was  Pisa. 
After  being  in  Pisa  a  few  weeks  Mr.  Nardi 
had  an  attack  of  cholera.  The  Devil  did  not 
want  him  in  Italy  where  ''Satan's  seat"  is,  but 


50  Michele  Nardi 

through  a  real  fight  of  faith,  he  was  healed  in 
answer  to  prayer. 

An  ItaHan  hving  in  the  mountains  near  by, 
who  had  worked  for  Mr.  Nardi  in  America, 
came  to  see  them,  and  finding  Mr.  Nardi  so 
weak,  advised  him  to  go  up  into  the  moun- 
tains where  he  hved,  where  the  water  was 
pure  and  the  air  good.  He  found  an  apart- 
ment for  them  in  the  house  where  the  priest 
and  nuns  stopped  frequently.  The  first  one 
to  call  on  them  was  the  village  priest,  who 
paid  a  friendly  call.  But  after  a  few  weeks, 
when  they  learned  that  the  Italians  gathered 
around  them  in  the  evening  to  hear  the  Gos- 
pel and  the  beautiful  Italian  hymns,  they  tried 
to  have  i\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  sent  away  from 
the  house,  and  they  called  ''the  lewd  fellows" 
of  the  village  together  to  give  Mr.  Nardi  a 
thrashing.  But  one  of  the  worst  men  of  the 
town,  who  did  not  care  for  the  priest,  came 
and  gave  Mr.  Nardi  a  timely  warning.  They 
gave  themselves  to  prayer,  and  the  young  men 
who  came  to  the  service  in  the  evening  came 
prepared  to  fight,  but  the  Lord  did  not  allow 
them  to  be  touched,  and  the  man  in  the  house 
desired  them  to  remain. 

After  a  few  months  of  seed-sowing  among 


The  Italian  Evangelist  51 

these  simple-hearted  peasantry,  they  went  to 
the  nearest  city,  Lucca,  called  the  vestry  of 
Rome  because  half  the  population  of  the  city 
were  priests.  There  was  a  Waldensian 
Church  here,  but  no  regular  pastor.  Mr. 
Nardi  was  asked  to  take  hold  of  the  work  and 
see  what  he  could  do.  The  Lord  met  him, 
opened  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  gave  real 
blessing  in  the  work.  About  one  year  was 
spent  in  this  city.       % 

The  following  letter  is  from  the  Walden- 
sian minister  of  Pisa : 

Our  beloved  Brother  Nardi  and  his  wife 
were  loved  by  everybody  because  of  their 
goodness  and  charity  towards  the  poor.  Their 
house  was  open  to  everybody,  and  frequent- 
ly those  in  need  were  lovingly  fed  and  cared 
for.  It  was  our  brother's  daily  food  to  pray 
and  to  preach  the  Gospel.  His  preaching  was 
accompanied  with  power,  and  many  were  con- 
verted to  Christ  as  a  result.  We  were  all 
struck  with  sorrow  when  the  day  came  for  the 
departure  of  our  brother  from  this  world, 
especially  those  who  were  converted  through 
his  preaching  (among  whom  I  shall  mention 
some:  The  widow,  Mrs.  GalH,  and  her 
daughter,  Mr.  Gigh,    the    engineer,    and  his 


52  Michele  Nardi 

wife,  Mr.  Dell'  Oglio  and  wife,  Mrs.  Beirlac- 
qua  and  her  family,  Mr.  Giglio  and  his  wife, 
and  many  others). 

In  the  course  of  my  work  at  the  port  of 
Genoa  I  met  a  number  of  ministers  who  came 
from  America,  and  they  all  praised  the  work 
of  Brother  Nardi  in  that  country.  They  spoke 
of  his  opening  many  new  churches.  Many 
emigrants  were  converted  to  the  Gospel 
through  the  work  of  our  brother. 

I  was  very  glad  when  in  the  month  of 
June,  1913,  I  received  word  that  Mr,  Nardi 
and  his  wife  were  about  to  come  to  Italy,  and 
that  he  wanted  me  to  meet  them  at  the  port  of 
Genoa. 

When  I  met  Brother  Nardi,  I  kissed  him 
and  embraced  him,  giving  praise  to  God.  He 
went  at  once  to  Rapallo,  where  he  opened  a 
hall  for  evangelization,  and  in  a  short  time  he 
gathered  a  number  of  men  who  were  glad  to 
hear  the  Word  of  God.  Besides  preaching  in 
Rapallo  three  times  a  week,  he  went  to  the 
Riviera,  where  he  preached  the  Gospel  in 
many  towns. 

The  brethren  of  Rome  desired  to  see  our 
Brother  Nardi ;  and  when  the  new  Walden- 
sian  Church  was  dedicated,  Mr.  Nardi  was  in- 


The  Italian  Evangelist  53 

vited  to  be  present;  at  Rome  he  received  a 
very  cordial  welcome. 

Mr.  Nardi  returned  to  his  field;  I  re- 
mained in  Rome.  Four  months  later  I  re- 
ceived the  following  postal  card : 

My  dear  Brother  Goglio : 

Yesterday,  on  the  21st  of  July,  our  beloved 
Mr.  Nardi  left  this  world  for  the  kingdom 
of  the  Lord.  Around  him  there  were  many 
brethren  and  sisters  who  took  care  of  him 
during  his  ten  days'  illness.  He  was  praising 
the  Lord  every  moment,  even  in  the  midst  of 
his  sufferings.  He  has  left  the  earth  to  enjoy 
the  glory  of  God.  Mrs.  Nardi  is  remembered 
in  prayers  by  all  her  friends,  and  she  is  happy 
in  the  comfort  of  the  Heavenly  Father  during 
this  sorrowful  ordeal. 

Greetings  to  all  the  brethren. 

'     E.  TicHi. 

This  was  a  great  loss  for  Mrs.  Nardi  which 
caused  her  great  pain,  and  we  pray  our  Heav- 
enly Father  to  protect  her  in  everything 
(Psalm  23). 

Ambrogio  Goglio. 
Tempio  Valdese,  Piazza  Caivur,  Roma. 


54  Michele  Nardi 

Florence. 
They  visited  Florence  also,  which  was  not 
far  away,   and  preached  in  the   Waldensian 
Church  there. 

The  President  of  the  Waldensian  Society, 
Dr.  Prochet,  came  to  see  them  at  Lucca,  and 
would  have  liked  to  have  had  them  stay  there. 
He  asked  them  to  visit  Barga  before  leaving, 
where  there  was  a  hall  for  preaching  service. 
The  Lord  blessed  them  there,  but  the  opposi- 
tion was  awful,  so  much  so  that  they  tried  to 
have  them  sent  away,  and  put  posters  on  the 
wall,  "Death  to  the  Protestant  Preacher,"  also 
the  same  on  partly  burned  tracts  (that  they 
had  given  out)  that  were  left  at  their  door.  A 
finely  educated  man  was  converted  during 
these  services  and  has  always  remained  faith- 
ful. Many  others  received  great  blessings  and 
they  shall  know  when  they  get  on  the  other 
side  just  how  much  was  accomplished. 

Many  other  places  were  visited  and  the 
Gospel  faithfully  preached,  and  everywhere 
they  went,  they  found  hearts  hungry  for  the 
truth. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  55 

Rome 

NOW,  like  Paul,  they  felt  that  they  must 
see  Rome.  S-O  they  went  thither. 
There  was  already  a  good  deal  of  splendid 
work  being  done  here  by  the  Waldensian  and 
other  Societies,  but  Mr.  Nardi  was  led  of  the 
Lord  to  open  a  hall  for  special  Evangelistic 
work.  And  as  the  cafes  were  open  night 
after  night  and  filled  and  thronged  with  the 
people,  why  not  have  a  Gospel  hall  open  every 
night  and  let  the  Word  of  God  have  free 
course?  He  took  the  hall  near  the  great  Ca- 
thedral Santa  Maria  Maggiore,  where  the 
people  passed  continually.  They  were  at  once 
attracted  by  the  singing  and  the  Scripture 
texts  that  were  painted  in  large  letters  on  the 
walls,  making  it  very  attractive.  "Sala  Evan- 
gelica"  (Gospel  Hall)  was  painted  in  large 
letters  over  the  door.  Night  after  night  the 
hall  was  filled,  much  to  the  surprise  of  the 
ministers  who  thought  a  prayer-meeting,  and 
preaching  on  Sunday,  were  all  that  was 
needed. 

Every  one  hundred  years  is  set  apart  by 
the  Pope  and  called  ''Holy  Year,"  when  pil- 
grims come  from  all  over  the  world  to  bring 


56  Michele  Nardi 

presents,  and  this  happened  to  be  that  year. 
When  the  pilgrims  passed  the  hall  on  Via  Ca- 
vour,  and  saw  that  it  was  a  meeting  place, 
many  stopped,  thinking  i*  was  a  meeting  in 
connection  with  the  "Holy  Year."  Here  many 
for  the  first  time  heard  the  Gospel,  and  others, 
after  hearing  the  ''Good  News,"  asked  for  a 
book  that  told  about  these  wonderful  things. 
There  were  many  to  whom  it  was  a  "Holy 
Year"  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  for 
they  found  their  Saviour  and  took  His  Word 
back  to  their  homes. 

Sometimes,  as  they  entered,  they  would 
bow  and  "cross  themselves"  and  come  to  kiss 
Mr.  Nardi's  hand  (which  he  always  drew 
away  quickly). 

Many  were  converted  here  who  are  still 
faithful. 

Mr.  Nardi  presented  the  Gospel  with  such 
simplicity  and  power  that  the  people  were 
surprised  and  attracted  and  held,  for  he  knew 
his  Bible  and  spoke  with  authority.  He 
preached  faithfully  the  Second  Coming  of 
Christ,  and  exhorted  them  to  watch  and  pray 
as  His  coming  would  be  soon.  He  also 
preached  the  Baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  whole  counsel  of  God.    As  he  often  said, 


The  Italian  Evangelist  57 

"It  is  more  than  the  A,  B,  C's.  We  must  press 
on  to  know  Him." 

The  Italians  who  attended  these  meetings 
were  of  the  better  class.  Among  them  were 
some  of  the  King's  guards  who  came  down 
from  time  to  time,  who,  however,  never  sat 
down,  but  always  stayed  and  remained  stand- 
ing. 

Those  who  were  converted  during  these 
meetings  were  taken  in  as  members  of  the 
Protestant  Churches,  but  mostly  in  the  Wal- 
densian   Church. 

The  work  was  turned  over  to  the  Walden- 
sian  Society,  who  kept  the  hall  open  as  a  Bible 
Depository  and  held  services  twice  a  week. 
The  open  Bible  was  always  in  the  window  so 
that  the  passersby  could  read  it.  Mr.  Nardi 
spent  about  a  year  at  this  place  when  he  felt 
they  should  move  on  to  other  points. 

It  was  during  this  time  in  Rome  that  the 
young  girl  they  had  taken  from  the  convent 
in  New  York  became  thoroughly  converted 
and  consecrated  herself  to  the  Lord.  We  will 
let  her  tell  her  own  story  of  her  conversion. 


I 


N  the  year  1897  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  were 
stopping  in  New  York  on  their  way  to  Italy. 


58  Michele  Nardi 

My  mother,  whom  they  had  known,  asked 
them  to  come  to  see  me,  for  I  was  in  a  Roman 
CathoHc  Convent.  They  came,  and  in  the 
course  of  conversation  Mrs.  Nardi  asked  me 
if  I  would  hke  to  go  to  Italy  with  them.  I 
replied  that  I  would  be  glad  to  go.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  accordingly,  and  on  the 
fourteenth  of  August  of  the  same  year  I  ar- 
rived in  Italy. 

It  was  understood  that  I  should  follow  such 
religious  duties  as  was  possible,  although  it 
was  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi's  aim  and  desire  to 
show  me  the  better  way. 

To  this  end  I  was  asked  to  read  the  Scrip- 
tures at  family  worship,  and  also  I  read  a 
great  deal  to  Mrs.  Nardi  from  the  best  of 
religious  papers.  I  was  so  strictly  Roman 
Catholic,  that  I  would  make  my  mind  wander 
during  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  and  repeat  my 
own  prayers,  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi 
prayed.  I  know,  for  I  felt  it,  that  they  both 
prayed  much  for  me  concerning  our  religious 
differences,  and  this  touched  me  very  greatly. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  I  loved  and  believed 
firmly  in  my  religion,  and  prayed  much  for 
their  conversion. 

What  appealed  to  me  from  the  very  begin- 


The  Italian  Evangelist  59 

ning,  was  that,  apparently  it  was  easy  for  them 
to  be  good,  and  that  joy  and  peace  was  ever 
theirs,  whereas  with  me  it  was  always  a  strug- 
gle, and  hard  work  to  do  the  right  thing. 

Soon  I  began  to  get  interested  in  the  read- 
ing of  the  Bible  and  also  in  the  reading  of  cer- 
tain articles,  especially  anything  treating  on  the 
Second  Coming  of  Christ.  All  else  was  fa- 
miliar to  me,  in  some  form  or  other,  but  here 
was  something  that  the  Catholic  Church  did 
not  know,  or  teach.  The  blessed  hope  of 
Christ's  return  was  what  awakened  me  to  ex- 
amine and  see  if,  after  all,  what  I  had  been 
taught  was  really  true. 

To  this  end,  after  Mr.  Nardi  showed  me 
that  there  was  no  difference  between  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  and  the  Protestant  Bibles,  I  be- 
gan to  compare  my  Catholic  books,  where 
there  were  Bible  references,  with  the  Bible.  I 
found  that  these  teachings  did  not  correspond 
to  the  references,  and  so  little  by  little  I  felt 
shaken  in  my  faith  in  the  Catholic  Church.  I 
took  great  pleasure  in  reading  the  testimonies 
given,  how  people  were  saved,  sanctified,  and 
healed.  The  more  I  read,  the  more  I  desired 
just  such  a  wonderful  experience  as  was  de- 
scribed.   I  was  tired  of  trying  and  trying  to  be 


6o  Michele  Nardi 

good  without  succeeding,  and  I  finally  began 
to  pray  that  God  would  save  me  also. 

Sometimes  Mr.  Nardi  would  let  me  ask  the 
blessing  at  table,  and  also  take  part  at  family 
worship.  But  with  all  this  I  did  not  feel  free 
in  my  conscience  to  ever  go  to  the  Protestant 
Church. 

After  praying  for  some  time,  seeing  that  I 
did  not  have  any  wonderful  experience,  I  gave 
up  and  became  rather  bitter  within. 

Just  about  this  time  a  minister  gave  me  a 
history  of  the  Reformation  to  read.  I  was 
very  much  interested  in  it,  and  it  enlightened 
me  much  as  to  the  errors  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  and  their  origin. 

On  the  first  of  October,  1899,  I  went  to 
Rome  with  my  faith  badly  shaken,  and  yet 
hoping  to  find  there  something  better.  It  is 
generally  called  the  holy  city,  and  I  surely  ex- 
pected the  Roman  Catholic  religion  to  be  at 
its  highest  perfection,  especially  as  the  Pope 
dwells  there.  But  one  day  I  happened  to  go 
to  the  Vatican,  and  as  it  was  some  holy  day, 
mass  was  being  celebrated.  I  drew  near  and 
took  notice  of  all  my  surroundings,  and  to  my 
horror,  at  the  most  sacred  moment  of  the 
service,  while  the  people  were  on  their  knees 


The  Italian  Evangelist  6i 

on  the  outside  of  the  altar  devoutly  bowed  in 
prayer,  the  priests,  of  whom  there  were  sev- 
eral, were  laughing,  joking,  among  themselves. 
That  was  the  last  straw,  and  I  understood  that 
the  Roman  CathoHc  reUgion  was  false  through 
and  through. 

On  the  evening  of  October  i6th  I  was  read- 
ing to  Mrs.  Nardi  an  article  on  ** Behold  He 
Cometh,"  at  the  close  of  which  there  was  a 
special  appeal  to  the  reader,  saying:  if  the 
Lord  came  that  night  would  the  reader  be 
ready?  I  asked  Mrs.  Nardi  if  I  should  be 
saved  that  night  and  the  Lord  came,  would 
He  take  me  also  with  Him?  Mrs.  Nardi  an- 
swered :  ''Yes,  even  to  the  eleventh  hour !"  I 
told  her  I  thought  the  Lord  did  not  want  me, 
for  I  had  been  praying  in  the  past,  and  He 
did  not  answer;  in  that  I  did  not  have  an  ex- 
perience like  the  ones  I  read  of. 

Mrs.  Nardi  then  told  me  how  she  was  saved, 
and  concluded,  that  I  was  not  to  look  for  feel- 
ings but  take  it  in  faith.  We  knelt  in  prayer 
and,  since  I  did  not  want  to  pray,  Mrs.  Nardi 
prayed  for  us  both.  I  kissed  her  good  night 
and  went  to  my  room. 

I  was  preparing  for  bed,  when  very  dis- 
tinctly I  heard  these  words:  "If  you  were  to 


62  Michele  Nardi 

die,  where  would  you  go?"  I  looked  around 
and,  of  course,  I  was  alone.  I  concluded  it 
was  my  imagination,  so  proceeded  to  go  to 
bed.  And  again:  'If  you  were  to  die  this 
night,  where  would  you  go?"  By  this  time  I 
began  to  feel  nervous,  but  still  I  would  not 
give  in.  A  third  time  the  same  words,  and 
this  time  they  brought  me  down  on  my  knees. 
I  do  not  know  what  I  said,  except  that  I  cried 
to  God  to  save  me.  I  arose  from  my  knees, 
and  the  enemy  said:  "Well,  what  do  you  think 
you  have  done?  You  are  just  as  lost  as  be- 
fore." I  immediately  began  to  say  to  myself : 
**The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  me  from 
all  sin  and  unrighteousness." 

This  continued  for  some  time,  until  I  re- 
membered reading  that  we  must  accept  by 
faith,  and  testify  to  the  finished  work.  So  I 
went  right  into  Mrs.  Nardi's  room  to  tell  her, 
and  I  said:  "Mrs.  Nardi,  I  am  saved."  And 
she  answered  "Amen !" 

We  both  sang:  "Praise  God  from  Whom  all 
blessings  flow,"  etc.  I  said  good  night  and 
went  to  bed. 

The  next  day  I  knew  I  was  a  new  creature 
in  Christ  Jesus,  for  I  then  felt  even  as  a  little 
child,  and  joy,  peace,  and  quietness  filled  my 


The  Italian  Evangelist  63 

being.  The  assurance  of  salvation  that  I  had 
read  about,  but  never  before  experienced  was 
mine,  and  quietly  all  through  the  day  I  in- 
wardly praised  God. 

To  God  is  all  the  glory  and  praise,  and 
gratitude  and  love  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  who 
were  instrumental  in  leading  me  to  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Christ. 

Mrs.  Rosin  a  M.  Allegri. 

Among  the  first  fruits  in  Rome  of  Mr. 
Nardi's  preaching  was  Mrs.  Galli,  whose  tes- 
timony is  here  given : 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1898,  we  moved 
from  Messina,  Sicily,  to  Rome,  because 
mother's  health  and  mine  also,  was  much 
shaken.  For  a  month  or  more  the  ground  had 
trembled  continually  by  earthquakes.  That  un- 
fortunate city  was  devoted  to  end  in  the  way  it 
did !  We  came  to  Rome  hoping  to  feel  better 
in  mind  and  body,  but  did  not  gain.  For 
though  the  fear  of  earthquakes  was  gone,  our 
hearts  were  not  at  ease;  something  was  miss- 
ing. Mother  and  I  were  alone, — no  friends, 
no  parents,  (father  had  died)  to  encourage  us. 
We  passed  our  time  remembering  the  happy 
days  in  the  past  when  we  lived  in  America 


64  Michele  Nardi 

(I  was  born  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.)  with  my 
mother's  parents  and  dear  father.  Mother 
remembered  also  her  friends  especially  a 
faithful  Christian  lady.  We  had  lived,  so  to 
say,  without  religion,  although  called  Catho- 
lics. 

One  evening  we  heard  the  bell  ring.  I  ran 
to  the  door  and  before  me  stood  a  smiling  gen- 
tleman arm  in  arm  with  a  lady,  who  asked  for 
us.  That  gentleman  and  the  lady  were  Mr. 
Nardi  and  his  wife,  and  we  shall  ever  remem- 
ber them  as  angels  coming  from  heaven  to  us. 
Mr.  Nardi  told  us  that  he  had  come  from 
America,  where  he  knew  some  of  our  acquain- 
tances, and  they  had  given  him  our  address. 
Shortly  after  this,  he  quietly  asked  us  if  we 
frequented  Rome's  beautiful  church  and  if 
wc  went  to  see  the  Pope.  Freely  we  answered 
that  a  visit  to  see  the  artistic  pictures  and  sta- 
tues in  the  Roman  temples  was  enough  for  us 
and  nothing  more,  for  we  had  never  cared  for 
religion,  at  least  what  the  priests  taught,  and 
vould  never  go  to  them.  Then  Mr.  Nardi 
pulled  out  a  little  book  from  his  coat  pocket 
(it  was  the  Gospel)  and  told  us  it  was  the 
teaching  of  God,  the  only  teaching  worth  obey- 
ing.   He  asked  us  to  read  it  attentively.    Then 


The  Italian  Evangelist  65 

he  informed  us  that  we  could  hear  the  ex- 
planation in  a  little  hall  just  a  few  steps  from 
our  door  where  meetings  were  held  every 
evening.  His  words,  when  speaking  of  the 
divine  love  of  the  Father,  entered  our  himgry 
souls  as  balm.  We  went  to  the  meetings,  and 
afterwards  to  the  Temple  (the  Waldensian 
Church  on  Via  Nazione)  and  three  months 
later  we  were  accepted  as  members.  We  still 
belong  to  that  church  until  we  shall  be  united 
to  all  the  believers  in  our  Father's  house  in. 
heaven.  From  the  beginning,  from  the  very- 
first  evening  in  that  little  hall,  the  words  of 
eternal  life  were  real  food  for  our  souls.  Our 
lives  were  renewed,  our  health  did  not  occupy 
us  any  more.  For  three  years  Mr.  Nardi  and 
his  wife  lived  in  Rome,  and  many  happy,  holy 
hours  we  spent  together.  After  that  many 
trials  came  to  us,  mother's  sickness,  and  other 
troubles,  earthquakes  also,  but,  Glory  to  our 
Lord,  that  deep,  settled  feeling  of  peace  and 
spiritual  joy  poured  into  our  hearts  from  the 
loving  brotherly  heart  of  Mr.  Nardi  never  left 
us.  Lately  we  expected  to  Hve  again  united 
in  this  Rome,  but  our  Father  called  him  in  the 
heavenly  house  where  he  is  awaiting  us. 
His  will  be  done! 


66  Michcle  Nardi 

Naples  and  Capri 

MR.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  visited  Naples,  and 
for  eight  months  preached  the  Gospel 
faithfully  in  a  hall  (opened  by  a  Count  P — ) 
every  day  at  noon.  Mr.  Nardi  also  preached 
in  the  Waldensian  Church  in  this  place. 

They  spent  a  few  months  also  on  the  Island 
of  Capri  with  Count  P —  who  had  a  beautiful 
castle  here  and  a  nice  chapel  inside  of  it 
where  meetings  were  held  daily. 

While  in  Naples,  they  received  a  letter 
from  some  Christians  in  the  mountains  who, 
while  in  America,  had  found  Christ.  They 
invited  Mr.  Nardi  to  come  and  see  them,  but 
as  Rev.  Mr.  Gai  was  going  that  way  on  some 
business  in  the  interest  of  the  Waldensians, 
Mr.  Nardi  asked  him  to  visit  them,  which  he 
did.  He  found  a  number  of  people  there  who 
wore  the  name  Christian  on  their  hats  and 
also  on  their  houses  so  that  the  priests  would 
not  bother  them.  They  had  evangelized  the 
whole  village,  and  now  there  is  a  nice  church 
and  school  in  that  village  under  the  Walden- 
sian Society. 

Other  Towns  Also 

A  DEAR  friend  who  was  in  Switzerland 
at  this  time,  hearing  that  they  were  in 


The  Italian  Evangelist  (iTj 

Italy,  invited  them  to  visit  her.  They  took 
this  opportunity  to  visit  the  Itahan  work  of 
Berne,  Basil,  and  Bienne,  spending  a  few- 
months  very  profitably  among  the  Italians, 
preaching  in  the  Evangelical  Halls,  and  doing 
personal  work.  They  also  had  much  spiritual 
blessing  in  fellowship  with  a  Christian  friend 
from  America. 

On  their  return  to  Italy  they  visited  Turin 
and  attended  the  Waldensian  Synod  then  in 
session  at  Torre  Pelhce.  Mr.  Nardi  was 
asked  to  preach  at  the  old  historical  church 
Ciabas  where  in  the  time  of  persecution  it  was 
"fight  or  flight,"  and  they  decided  to  fight  for 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  The 
Lord  was  with  him  in  much  power  on  that 
afternoon,   as   all  testified  who  heard  him. 

Then  followed  a  visit  to  Milan  where  spe- 
cial meetings  were  held  in  the  American  Bap- 
tist Church.  The  Italians  here  were  very  re- 
ceptive and  it  was  touching  to  see  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  Gospel  messages  in  the  fulness 
of  the  Spirit. 

They  also  visited  Mr.  Nardi's  birthplace 
near  the  Adriatic  Sea,  and  spent  about  a  week 
in  the  home  of  his  cousin  who  was  Arch 
Priest,    having    fifteen    priests    under    him. 


68  Michele  Nardi 

There,  in  his  own  home,  with  his  parents  and 
other  members  of  his  family,  they  had  an  op- 
portunity to  witness  daily  for  "The  Truth." 
There  were  about  sixteen  in  all  with  the  assis- 
tant Chaplain.  Mr.  Nardi  asked  him  if  he 
had  a  Bible.  He  brought  it  forth,  and,  open- 
ing it,  Mr.  Nardi  explained  it  to  them,  all 
assenting  that  it  was  true.  He  gave  them 
tracts  to  read,  one  by  Moody  "Filled  with  the 
Spirit"  which  had  been  translated  into  Italian. 
The  mother  of  the  priest  was  so  touched  by 
this  tract  that  she  read  it  to  the  women  of 
the  Church,  as  she  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Society  among  them.  They  called  on  the  Fa- 
ther confessor  of  Mr.  Nardi's  mother,  an  old 
priest,  who  was  so  glad  to  see  them  that  he 
had  the  best  of  wine  brought  for  them ;  but 
as  they  had  no  use  for  it,  he  was  quite  disap- 
pointed. They  returned  the  compliment  by 
getting  out  the  best  of  their  "Wine,"  and  he 
was  much  interested  in  what  they  told  him, 
and  especially  of  the  coming  of  Christ. 

Only  in  eternity  shall  it  be  known  what  was 
accomplished  during  these  weeks  of  service. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  69 

Rome  Again 

RETURNING  to  Rome,  for  a  time  they 
held  services  in  the  hall  of  the  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  As  the  English  Baptists  had  rented  a  hall 
at  Via  Borgo  Nuovo,  just  at  the  foot  of  the 
Vatican  and  next  door  to  the  palace  of  the 
Prince  Torlonia,  where  many  of  the  Cardinals 
lived,  and  were  waiting  to  open  the  hall,  Mr. 
Nardi  offered  his  services,  and  meetings  were 
held  every  night.  There  was  a  large  window 
where  the  Bible  was  always  kept  open  with 
other  Scripture  texts  which  the  monks  and  the 
nuns  on  their  way  to  St.  Peter's  could  not 
help  but  see.  They  could  also  hear  the  Word 
of  God  as  it  was  read  and  the  Gospel  Hymns 
that  were  sung,  for  the  doors  of  the  hall  were 
always  open. 

They  were  told  by  others  that  some  of  the 
Pope's  coachmen  attended  these  meetings. 
The  soldiers  also  stopped  in,  for  which  some 
were  punished  by  their  officers:  and  others, 
to  avoid  suspicion,  dressed  in  citizens  clothes 
and  returned  again  and  again  to  hear  the  Gos- 
pel. 

One  young  man,  a  soldier  who  was  stationed 
as  a  guard  in  the  prison,  came  and  heard  the 


/O  Michele  Nardi 

Gospel  and  one  evening  asked  Mr.  Nardi  for 
a  book  exactly  like  the  one  he  was  preaching 
from.  Mr.  Nardi  gave  him  his  own  Bible. 
This  young  man  was  baptized  afterwards  and 
joined  the  Baptist  Church. 

This  man  was  a  constant  reader  of  the 
Bible  while  on  guard  in  the  prison,  and  the 
prisoners,  seeing  him  read  the  book,  asked 
him  what  he  was  reading.  He  said,  the  Gos- 
pel. They  asked  him  if  he  would  not  leave 
the  Book  with  them  when  he  went  out,  for 
they  would  like  to  read  it.  He  knew  that  even 
if  he  gave  them  a  scrap  of  paper,  he  would  be 
punished  for  it  if  found  out ;  but  he  was  willing 
to  leave  the  Book  and  take  the  punishment. 
But  he  was  protected  by  the  One  in  whom  he 
put  his  trust.  Thus  God  in  His  own  way 
opened  the  way  for  the  Gospel  to  be  heard  by 
those  in  prison.  The  priests  were  the  only 
ones  allowed  in  the  prisons  as  spiritual  advis- 
ers, so  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  mission- 
aries themselves  to  enter  with  the  Bible.  The 
above-named  young  man  and  others  would 
read  the  Bible  aloud  while  on  their  beat,  so 
that  not  only  were  they  profited  themselves, 
but  the  prisoners  were  also  blessed  by  the 
Words  of  Life  from  the  Blessed  Book. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  71 

While  in  Rome  Mr.  Nardi  visited  a  Mission 
at  Civita  Vecchia  (Old  City)  where  the  Bap- 
tists had  had  a  Mission  for  many  years.  Mr. 
Nardi  preached  here  for  several  weeks.  The 
boys  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble  at  first,  but 
through  prayer  and  tact  they  were  won  to  be 
his  staunch  friends  to  the  great  surprise  of  all. 

He  also  held  meetings  twice  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Newberry,  an  Independent  Mission- 
ary, who  also  had  Missions  in  Monte  Carlo  and 
other  places  on  the  Riviera. 


Chapter  IV 
BACK  TO  AMERICA 

WHILE  in  Rome,  they  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  many  American  friends 
who  were  travelhng  in  Europe ;  among  them 
was  Rev.  Mr.  MacNair  and  his  wife  from 
Philadelphia,  (a  Presbyterian  Minister)  who 
was  much  interested  in  the  work  among  the 
Italians  of  America.  He  thought  Mr.  Nardi 
should  return  to  America  and  evangelize  the 
Italians  there;  because  when  they  were  con- 
verted and  returned  to  Italy,  they  were  much 
used  of  the  Lord.  But  before  leaving  Italy 
Mr.  Nardi  visited  many  other  parts  of  that 
country  in  the  mountains  and  smaller  towns. 
But  he  did  feel  that  it  was  the  leading  of  the 
Lord  for  them  to  return  to  America.  They 
had  now  spent  five  years  in  Italy. 

Crossing  over  to  Paris  where  they  stayed 
a  week,  they  sailed  from  Havre  on  the  St. 
Louis  and  arrived  in  New  York  Oct.  12th. 

They  were  met  at  the  steamer,  and  Mr. 
Nardi  was  invited  to  preach  the  next  day,  so 


The  Italian  Evangelist  73 

their  work  began  as  soon  as  they  arrived  in 
America.  They  went  about  visiting  the 
churches  even  as  far  as  Chicago  and  intended 
to  go  as  far  as  Oklahoma  where  they  had 
heard  there  were  many  Italians.  But  he  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  East  asking  if  he 
would  come  to  Hammonton,  New  Jersey, 
where  there  was  a  little  church  among  the 
Itahans  with  divisions  among  them,  for  they 
thought  Mr.  Nardi  could  bring  them  together 
again. 

After  much  prayer  he  was  persuaded  that 
it  was  a  call  of  the  Lord ;  instead  of  going  to 
Oklahoma,  they  returned  East. 

Up  to  this  time  in  their  sixteen  years  of 
experience,  they  had  not  worked  in  connec- 
tion with  any  committee.  After  arriving  at 
Hammonton,  N.  J.,  they  began  work  among 
the  little  flock,  and  by  much  prayer  and  wait- 
ing upon  the  Lord,  harmony  was  soon  estab- 
lished and  new  ones  were  added  to  the 
Lord.  As  these  were  nearly  all  farmers,  they 
could  not  have  so  many  meetings;  but  they 
visited  them  in  their  homes. 

Beautiful  Vineland  was  a  few  miles  dis- 
tant, so  they  went  there  and  secured  a  hall 
and  had  very  good  meetings.     Dr.  Moore,  a 


74  Michele  Nardi 

retired  Presbyterian  Minister,  became  so  in- 
terested that  he  afterward  built  a  beautiful 
Italian  Church  and  a  parsonage  next  door. 

Philadelphia 

FOR  a  few  years  they  labored  in  this  vicin- 
ity. But  while  still  Uving  in  Hammonton, 
Rev.  Mr.  MacNair,  whom  Mr.  Nardi  met  in 
Rome,  wrote  asking  him  to  come  to  Philadel- 
phia and  open  a  tent  work  among  the  Italians 
there.  This  would  be  the  first  attempt 
of  work  of  this  kind,  as  he  had  always 
spoken  in  churches,  halls,  or  in  the  open  air. 
They  then  came  to  the  city,  and,  standing  on  a 
box  in  a  Chinese  grave  yard  at  Tenth  and 
Kimball  Sts.,  they  started  the  meetings  in  the 
open  air  before  the  tent  was  erected.  There 
w^ere  two  missions  among  the  Italians  in  the 
vicinity  (a  Methodist  and  a  Presbyterian) 
but  the  pastors  were  both  absent.  The  very 
few  members  of  these  Missions  came  out  and 
helped  to  sing  Italian  Hymns,  and  this  drew 
the  crowds.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  great 
work  among  the  Italians  of  Philadelphia. 

The  Evangelistic  Committee  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  soon  furnished  a  large  tent 
holding  more  than  a  thousand  people.    At  the 


The  Italian  Evangelist  75 

closing  Rally  of  this  Campaign,  which  was  a 
phenomenal  one,  over  a  thousand  converts  of 
different  nationalities  were  present.  Dr.  J. 
Ely  and  Jno.  A.  Converse  asked  the  Italians  if 
they  wanted  this  work  to  go  on  or  to  stop. 
They  all  rose  to  their  feet  and  enthusiastical- 
ly said  "Let  it  go  on."  The  lot  was  pur- 
chased, and  a  corrugated  iron  building  was 
erected  seating  twelve  hundred  people.  Meet- 
ings were  held  night  after  night,  and  a  Sunday 
School  with  good  workers  reached  out  after 
the  children.  Good  workers  were  employed 
who  held  sewing  schools  and  Mother's  meet- 
ings and  every  thing  conducive  to  the  further- 
ance of  the  Gospel.  Noon-day  meetings  were 
held  for  the  factory  girls  next  door. 

New  Jersey 

AFTER  some  months  work,  Mr.  Nardi 
felt  that  he  should  return  to  his  work 
in  New  Jersey.  Rev.  A.  Pirazzini  from 
Providence,  R.  I.,  was  called  to  take  charge 
of  the  work  in  Philadelphia. 

They  located  in  Vineland.  Mr.  Nardi  had 
kept  up  his  meetings  in  Hammonton  during 
the  months  that  he  worked  in  Philadelphia, 


y6  Michele  Nardi 

preaching  in  the  morning  and  returning  to 
Philadelphia  for  the  afternoon  and  evening. 
In  Philadelphia  they  wanted  him  to  give  up 
his  work  in  New  Jersey,  but  he  was  so  at- 
tached to  it  that  he  refused  to  do  so. 

In  Vineland  they  found  many  Italians  from 
the  northern  part  of  Italy  as  well  as  many 
from  the  southern  part.  They  owned  their 
own  homes,  and  some  had  fine  farms  and  were 
very  open  to  the  Gospel.  A  congregation  was 
soon  gathered ;  and  when  the  new  church  was 
built  and  then  dedicated  on  a  Thanksgiving 
Day,  several  Italian  pastors  from  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  other  places  were  present. 
One  of  these  pastors  was  married  that  day  in 
the  afternoon,  which  was  their  first  wedding. 
Those  who  were  present  will  never  forget  that 
blessed  day. 

Ere  long  a  young  couple  from  Italy,  Rev. 
Mr.  Stasio  and  wife,  came  to  Vineland  and 
helped  in  the  work  by  preaching  in  Hammon- 
ton,  helping  Mr.  Nardi  in  Atlantic  City  and 
other  places  where  they  evangelized. 

During  the  summer,  Mr.  Nardi  again 
preached  in  the  second  Italian  tent  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  a  different  locality  from  the  prev- 
ious summer.    This  was  a  novelty  for  them  to 


The  Italian  Evangelist  yy 

gather  night  after  night  to  sing  hymns  and 
listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

Among  those  who  were  converted  during 
these  campaigns  were  fourteen  young  men, 
who  are  now  preaching  the  Gospel. 

After  about  five  years  of  preaching  in  the 
corrugated  iron  building,  a  beautiful  brick 
church  was  erected. 

In  a  recent  letter  from  Dr.  Ely  to  Mrs. 
Nardi,  he  writes : 

Mr.  Nardi  was  not  a  man  of  publicity,  being 
so  retiring  and  gentle  in  his  spirit.  He  effected 
the  agencies  which  appear  rather  than  being 
affected  by  them.  He  was  truly  a  modern  St. 
Paul.  He  stood  alone  with  God,  and  walked 
with  Him. 

Before  the  world  he  sincerely  and  truly  rep- 
resented God,  and  before  God  he  carried  the 
burdens  of  the  world.  When  he  began  the 
work  at  loth  and  Kimbal  streets,  I  remember 
well  how  most  of  our  Committees  and  such 
wise  men  as  Mr.  Wanamaker  expressed  their 
conviction  that  it  would  be  no  use :  the  Italian 
people,  they  thought  would  all  go  back  to  their 
original  faith.  But  when  Nardi  and  the  Lord 
showed  them  all  that  he  was  able  to  demon- 


/S  Michele  Nardi 

strate  the  powei  of  God  in  their  midst,  time 
has  proven  him  right  and  the  others  wrong. 

I  think  where  Mr.  Nardi  made  his  great  im- 
pression upon  me  was  when  he  prayed.  In  all 
his  work  was  the  spirit  of  reality ;  but  when 
he  prayed,  every  one  was  made  to  feel  that  the 
man  was  holding  direct  and  immediate  com- 
munion with  God  and  was  unconscious  of  the 
personalities  of  the  people.  Like  his  Master 
his  meat  and  drink  was  to  do  the  will  of  God. 
Surely  he  must  at  this  moment  be  enjoying  as 
few  others  have  the  capacity  to  enjoy  the  close 
fellowship  of  Christ.  You  have  nothing  to  re- 
gret except  the  sense  of  his  temporary  absence. 

Last  Monday  it  was  a  great  joy  for  me  to 
hear  Frasco  (I  think  this  is  his  name)  preach 
before  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery. 

He  is  the  boy  to  whom  Mr.  Nardi  gave  the 
Gospel  portion;  and  when  in  innocency  he 
showed  it  to  the  priest,  it  was  taken  from  him. 
After  some  time  mourning  its  loss,  he  made 
an  endeavor  to  get  another  copy,  and  told  his 
story  to  Mr.  Nardi  and  received  an  entire  copy 
of  the  Bible.  This  he  held  on  to,  and  now 
it  holds  him. 

Few  men  have  made  their  lives  count  as 
Mr.  Nardi  has,  and  upon  every  remembrance 


The  Italian  Eveingelist  79 

of  him  my  courage  in  the  Gospel  strengthens, 
and  my  hope  of  a  joyful  gathering  aroimd  the 
throne  of  God  is  quickened  into  a  happy  anti- 
cipation. There  are  indeed  many  things  I 
should  like  to  tell  about  in  regard  to  this  man 
of  God,  for  he  made  an  impression  on  my  life 
such  as  few  others  have  done.  As  you  know, 
I  consulted  him  about  almost  every  move  and 
often  took  his  opinion  as  a  divine  revelation. 
Now  I  hope  and  pray  that  whatever  message 
you  may  send  forward  to  the  world  may  con- 
tribute to  the  cause  of  our  Lord,  in  Whose 
work  Mr.  Nardi  was  so  effective  on  earth,  and 
Whose  service  he  so  enjoys  this  moment,  we 
believe. 

James  B.  Ely. 

The  boy  to  whom  Mr.  Ely  refers  is  Michele 
Frasca,  who  tells  his  own  story  as  follows: 

ON  a  Sunday  morning  in  July  of  1903,  a 
young  man  gave  me  a  religious  notice. 
It  said  that  in  the  evening  at  7 130,  there  would 
be  an  Evangelistic  campaign  opened  at  loth 
and  Kimball  street.  The  preaching  would  be 
illustrated  by  a  magic  lantern ;  all  Italians  cor- 
dially invited. 


8o  Michele  Nardi 

Upon  reading  the  notice,  I  immediately 
made  up  my  mind  to  go  to  that  devil's  meet- 
ing and  upset  it,  if  possible,  thus  obtaining  a 
double  indulgence  for  my  soul  in  the  life  to 
come.  (It  must  be  remembered  that  I  was  a 
very  strong  Roman  Catholic,  especially  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  I  had  recently  arrived  from 
Italy.) 

However,  God  had  planned  and  disposed 
otherwise.  His  thoughts  and  ways  were  not 
like  mine.  It  Providentially  happened,  or  as 
I  now  believe,  it  was  Providentially  arranged 
that  I  should  arrive  at  the  meeting  just  while 
the  people  were  singing : 

Cosi  qual  sono  pien  do  pecento, 
Ma  pel  tuo  sangue  chi  in  ha  lavato, 
E  per  rinerto  felto  al  cor  mio, 
O  Agnello  do  Dio,  To  vengo  a  Te !  etc. 
That  hymn  took  hold  of  me,  and  I,  forget- 
ting the  purpose  for  which  I  had  come,  sought 
for  paper  and  pencil  and  hastily  copied  the 
hymn  from  the  screen.     Little  do  I  remember 
about  the  night's  sermon,  except  that  it  made 
a  favorable  impression  upon  me,  especially  the 
earnestness   of  the  preacher,   as  well   as  the 
clearness  and  simplicity  of  his  message.     But 


The  Italian  Evangelist  8i 

that  hymn,  **cosi  quol  sono"  followed  me 
home,  in  my  sleep  next  day,  in  the  barber  shop, 
everywhere  I  went,  the  words,  "Cosi  quol  sono 
pusi  do  peccato"  followed  me. 

As  often  as  I  could  attend  the  meeting  I 
went,  especially  on  Sundays.  In  the  mornings 
I  went  to  the  Catholic  church,  and  in  the 
afternoons  and  evenings  to  hear  the  Protes- 
tant preacher. 

In  a  short  time  I  collected  quite  a  number 
of  religious  tracts.  These  I  devoured  in  the 
barber  shop,  and  I  always  asked  for  more.  I 
well  remember  my  eagerness  to  get  to  the 
meetings.  At  times  I  used  to  hang  at  the  back 
of  a  trolley  (not  having  the  fare)  in  order  to 
get  to  the  meeting  sooner.  Once  I  lost  my 
only  cap  by  so  doing. 

On  a  Sunday  afternoon,  my  uncle  asked  me 
to  go  to  Father  Isoleri,  the  Catholic  priest  of 
8th  and  Montrose  st.  church  and  ask  him  when 
he  could  baptize  his  child.  I  went;  the  ar- 
rangement was  made,  and  as  I  was  about  to 
leave  the  priest  noticed  a  neat  black  book  in 
my  hands,  a  little  larger  than  the  Catholic 
prayer  book.  He  asked  "What's  that  book?" 
"Father,"  said  I,  "It  is  a  nice  book,  it  speaks 
about  the  blessed   Mother,   our   Lord  Jesus, 


82  Michele  Nardi 

and  lots  of  other  good  things."  "Let  me  see 
it !"  Oh,  what  a  face  he  made !  ''My  child," 
said  he,  "you  are  on  the  road  to  hell,  yes,  in 
hell  itself.  There  is  no  hope  for  you,  since  you 
have  been  reading  this  damnable  Protestant 
book." 

Fear  and  trembling  took  hold  of  me,  for 
ever  since  I  u^as  a  boy  of  four  I  had  always 
a  holy  terror  of  hell  and  the  horned  and  fiery 
inmates.  To  avoid  hell  and  get  a  little  comer 
in  Purgatory  I  not  only  said  plenty  of  Aves 
to  all  the  saints  visible  in  my  native  church, 
but  also  to  those  invisible  to  make  my  position 
sure.  Now  to  be  told  that  I  was  in  hell,  and 
damned,  made  me  cry :  "What  must  I  do  to  get 
out  of  it?" 

"I  shall  give  you  a  catechism,"  answered  the 
priest,  "and  by  memorizing  the  same  you  shall 
escape  hell." 

"But,  Father,"  I  ventured,  "I  have  been 
studying  it  ever  since  I  was  a  boy." 

"My  son,"  announced  he,  "Fll  give  you  an 
advanced  one."  So  saying,  he  gave  me  a  cate- 
chism, but  my  New  Testament  he  carefully 
placed  in  his  pocket.  That  night  I  did  not  at- 
tend the  preaching  because  I  was  too  scared 
and  afraid  of  hell.    However,  for  a  week  my 


The  Italian  Evangelist  83 

mind  kept  saying  "That  was  a  good  book. 
There  was  nothing  bad  in  it;  why  did  the 
priest  take  it  away  from  me?"  I  could  find 
no  answer  to  this  and  other  questions,  so  I 
resolved  to  go  again  to  the  Protestant  meeting. 
I  went,  and  when  it  was  over,  I  told  the  affair 
to  the  preacher,  and  said,  "Mr.  Nardi,  if  you'll 
give  me  a  Bible,  I'll  promise  you  that  the  priest 
will  never  see  it,  and  I  will  read  it  every  day." 
He  gave  me  a  Bible,  and  the  more  I  read  it. 
the  clearer  my  vision  became,  and  the  firm 
my  conviction  grew  that  there  was  an  immens 
gulf  between  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  and 
that  of  the  Popish  church.  And  yet  I  was  not 
sufficiently  convinced  of  my  new  faith  to  break 
away  from  my  superstitious  practices,  so  for 
a  year  I  kept  on  attending  both  churches,  for 
a  tabernacle  had  taken  the  place  of  the  tent 
at  loth  and  Kimball  streets. 

Out  of  these  Evangelistic  meetings  there 
were  two  results.  One,  my  family,  upon  find- 
ing out  that  I  was  attending  the  Protestant 
services,  complained  to  me  and  outside  pres- 
sure was  brought  to  bear  on  my  father.  He 
was  basely  accused  of  sanctioning  my  going 
over  to  Protestantism  because  of  the  coal  and 
house   rent  he   received  as   a  reward.     But 


84  Michele  Nardi 

knowing  that  every  penny  was  earned  by  hard 
sweat,  he  told  me  one  day  that  either  I  should 
abandon  the  Protestant  church,  or  else  leave 
his  house.  I  chose  the  latter.  However,  three 
months  later  I  was  recalled  home  by  my 
mother. 

The  other  result,  indirectly  due  to  Mr. 
Nardi's  influence,  was  my  desire  to  serve  the 
Master  and  to  make  the  gospel  of  salvation 
which  is  the  power  of  God,  known  to  thou- 
sands of  young  men  like  me,  who  lived  with- 
out God.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  I  entered  the 
ministry  with  one  purpose  in  mind:  to  follow 
the  example  set  before  me  by  Mr.  Nardi  and  to 
tell  my  countrymen  that  through  faith  in  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain  on  Calvary  alone  there 
is  salvation. 

My  spiritual  father,  Mr.  Nardi,  has  now 
gone  to  receive  his  crown,  made  up  of  thou- 
sands of  jewels.  I  thank  God  that  he  came  to 
Philadelphia  and  led  me  to  Him  who  has 
saved  me  and  given  me  a  purpose  in  this  life. 
My  prayer  is  that  I,  like  him,  may  be  so  used 
to  God  as  to  carry  on  the  work  which  the  Mas- 
ter Himself  began.  Michele  Frasca. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  85 

Tent  Work  in  New  York 

DR.  ELY,  who  went  to  New  York  City 
on  an  Evangehstic  Campaign,  invited 
Mr.  Nardi  to  open  tent  work  among  the 
Itahans  in  New  York,  where  there  were  about 
half  a  milhon. 

Mr.  Nardi  then  left  the  work  of  Vineland 
and  Hammonton  in  charge  of  Mr.  Stasio.  But 
before  going  to  New  York,  he  went  to  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Ital- 
ians, who  had  been  gathered  together  by  Miss 
Mauro,  who  spoke  the  language  fluently.  By 
the  first  of  January  of  that  year  Mr.  Nardi  be- 
gan his  work  in  New  York.  He  spent  a  few 
months  preaching  to  different  Italian  Congre- 
gations in  New  York  City  and  thus  became 
acquainted  with  the  need  among  his  own 
country  men  in  that  great  city. 

In  the  early  spring  he  began  his  open  air 
work,  and  later,  at  150th  St.  in  the  Bronx,  a 
large  tent  was  erected,  and  the  converted  Ital- 
ians from  a  Methodist  Mission  near  by  came 
and  helped  in  the  singing.  The  first  night,  the 
lights  had  not  yet  been  installed,  and  the  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  dark.  A  young  Italian, 
who  came  with  others  out  of  curiosity,  was 


S6  Michele  Nardi 

so  impressed  by  this  service  that  he  became 
converted  and  is  now  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel 
in  the  Baptist  denomination. 

The  first  tent  was  erected  at  Harlem  on 
ii2th  St.  Mr.  Nardi  made  his  home  in  ''Little 
Italy"  for  the  convenience  of  the  work  among 
the  Italians,  and  then  he  began  to  look  about  to 
see  where  he  could  open  a  hall.  An  old  cafe, 
on  io6th  St.  near  First  Ave.,  was  rented.  Be- 
low is  the  report  by  the  New  York  Presby- 
tery concerning  the  work : 

Toward  spring  the  hall  was  so  overcrowd- 
ed that  we  looked  about  for  an  empty  lot  to 
put  up  an  Italian  tent.  Dr.  Ely  and  Mr.  Nardi 
found  one  in  the  next  block  toward  the  river, 
said  by  the  police  to  be  the  worst  block  in  the 
city.  The  lot  belonged  to  a  Presbyterian,  and 
he  gladly  gave  it  without  charge  for  this  good 
work.  This  was  indeed  a  needy  field.  Within 
a  few  months  five  murders  had  been  commit- 
ted on  that  very  lot,  and  those  who  committed 
the  acts  escaped  and  were  never  found.  We 
felt  that  this  was  just  the  place  for  the  work, 
so  the  meetings  for  adults  and  children  were 
begun.  Some  of  the  enemies  to  the  truth  went 
on   the    roofs    of   the    tenement   houses   and 


The  Italian  Evangelist  87 

threw  stones  and  other  things  down  on  the 
tent,  so  that  it  was  necessary  for  policemen  to 
patrol  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  After  a  few 
days,  a  black  hand  letter  was  addressed  to 
Mr.  Nardi  asking  a  thousand  dollars  and 
threatening  his  life  if  the  money  was  not  forth- 
coming. But  we  gave  ourselves  to  prayer,  in 
union  with  the  workers  of  the  committee  and 
the  Lord  protected  us  so  "No  evil  came  nigh 
our  dwelling." 

About  a  month  later  another  blackhand  let- 
ter was  received  at  their  own  home,  but  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Nardi  went  on  without  noticing  it, 
and  the  Lord  kept  them  and  gave  them  the 
favor  of  the  people  who  came  night  after  night 
and  asked  them  to  stay  there.  But  they  in- 
vited them  to  the  next  block  to  the  hall  when 
the  tent  was  taken  down  in  the  fall. 

Mr.  F.  Pirazzini  was  engaged  by  the  Pres- 
byterians to  continue  the  work  and  after  some 
years  of  service  there  is  now  a  most  beautiful 
church  building  there. 

Charlton  Street 

MR.  NARDI  was  asked  by  Dr.  Schauffler 
to  take  charge  of  the  work  on  the  West 
Side  in  lower  New  York  on  Charlton  St.    Mr. 


88  Michele  Nardi 

Nardi  undertook  the  work  and  with  the  bles- 
sing of  God  he  continued  there  nearly  six 
years.  This  Mission  was  a  little  distance  from 
the  Italian  colony,  but  the  Lord  answered 
prayer,  and  soon  the  place  became  too  small 
for  the  numbers  who  came.  As  the  Mission 
was  thoroughly  equipped  with  good  workers, 
there  was  nothing  left  undone  to  push  for- 
ward the  work. 

After  three  years,  with  the  help  of  Mrs. 
John  S.  Kennedy,  a  beautiful  new  building 
was  erected  called  "Charlton  Memorial 
Church"  in  memory  of  her  sister.  It  is  one  of 
the  finest  buildings  of  its  kind  in  the  city,  with 
thorough  equipment  of  every  description. 
While  pastor  of  this  church,  Rev.  Mr.  Antonio 
Arrighi,  who  had  been  pastor  of  the  Broome 
St.  Tabernacle  for  thirty  years  under  the  City 
Mission,  retired,  and  Mr.  Nardi  was  asked  to 
undertake  the  pastoral  work  of  this  church 
also.  Services  were  held  on  Sunday  at  five  in 
the  evening  and  a  prayer  meeting  on  Thurs- 
day evening  in  the  Broome  Street  Tabernacle, 
and  at  eight  o'clock  on  Sunday  evening  in  the 
Charlton  St.  Church  with  a  prayer  meeting  on 
Wednesday.  This  arrangement  of  services 
enabled  him  to  take  the  extra  work,  although 


The  Italian  Evangelist  89 

it  was  an  added  strain.  Something  was  going 
on  all  the  time  in  these  two  large  churches  in 
the  way  of  Sunday  Schools,  sewing  schools, 
young  people's  societies.  Mother's  meetings, 
etc.,  etc.,  which  kept  about  a  dozen  mission- 
aries busy  all  the  time. 

We  give  here  a  copy  of  the  printed  report 
of  the  Charlton  Street  Memorial  Church. 

For  the  first  three  months  of  this  year,  our 
Italian  congregation  worshiped  in  Alexander 
Chapel  during  the  erection  of  our  present 
beautiful  edifice.  Those  three  months  were 
the  last  of  the  twelve  months  that  we  spent 
with  the  Rev.  H.  Pritchard,  pastor  of  the 
Chapel.  When  we  parted,  a  sweet  memory 
remained  of  how  Americans  and  Italians  may 
worship  together  a  whole  year  in  true  loving 
fellowship. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  new  building  in  the 
month  of  April,  a  number  of  Italian  pastors 
and  missionaries  have  visited  our  church  and 
all  have  given  expressions  of  gratitude  to  God 
and  to  the  good  lady  who  has  so  generously 
given  so  great  a  gift  to  our  Master's  work  and 
to  the  Italians  of  America. 

During  the  nine  months  of  the  year  just 
closed  we  proved  how  needful  it  was  to  have 


90  Michele  Nardi 

larger  accommodations  for  each  of  the  depart- 
ments of  the  work,  and  especially  for  Sunday 
evening  meetings  for  adults. 

The  year  began  and  closed  without  especial 
perils,  poverty  or  sickness.  Here  and  there  a 
little  help  was  given.  We  record  one  death. 
We  have  had  several  baptisms  and  a  wedding. 
At  every  communion  we  have  had  some  addi- 
tions to  the  church  and  at  all  the  services  we 
have  had  some  encouragements.  For  instance 
a  few  Sundays  ago,  a  finely  educated  gentle- 
man passing  by  the  church,  read  the  sign.  He 
entered  the  building  and  attended  our  evening 
service.  On  taking  him  by  the  hand  after  the 
meeting,  he  said,  ''Curiosity  brought  me  inside, 
but  the  Spirit  of  God  has  touched  my  heart 
very  deeply,  and  instead  of  an  unbeliever,  I 
am  going  out  a  true  believer.  I  shall  make 
this  place  my  spiritual  home."  He  has  kept 
his  promise,  attending  all  the  meetings  and 
reading  God's  Word  given  to  him.  Not  long 
since  I  asked  a  young  lady  what  led  her  to 
become  one  of  us.  She  said,  "Our  big  brother 
had  already  begun  to  attend  the  Italian  Evan- 
gelical Church,  and  we  soon  found  in  him  a 
great  change  for  the  better.  The  pastor  urged 
him  to  invite  members  of  his  family  to  come 


The  Italian  Evangelist  91 

to  church.  One  day  he  asked  me  to  attend 
that  evening  one  of  their  monthly  social  gath- 
erings, and  I  went  just  to  please  him.  Several 
things  were  done,  and  said,  but  none  of  these 
interested  me ;  the  reading  of  God's  Word  and 
the  prayer  at  the  opening  and  at  the  closing 
of  the  meeting  went  with  me,  and  I  purposed 
then  and  there  to  attend  the  Sunday  evening 
services.  I  spoke  of  them  to  my  mother  and 
to  my  younger  sister,  and  on  the  following 
Sunday  evening  all  four  attended  the  meeting 
and  we  have  continued  to  go  with  great  delight 
during  these  four  years."  We  have  to  thank 
our  God  for  several  such  testimonies  during 
the  year. 

During  the  past  year  two  new  Italian  mis- 
sions have  been  established,  and  have  been 
blessed  with  almost  phenomenal  results.  The 
one  in  East  io6th  street,  in  the  colony  known 
as  'Little  Italy,"  was  opened  November  7th 
with  the  noted  evangelist,  Mr.  Nardi,  in 
charge.  He  labored  without  compensation. 
From  the  first  the  room,  which  accommodates 
only  114,  has  been  crowded  to  overflowing  at 
all  the  services  on  Sabbaths  and  weekdays. 
The  doors  have  been  locked  to  prevent  over- 


92  Michele  Nardi 

crowding,  and  sometimes  policemen  have  to 
be  called  to  prevent  eager  people  from  forcing 
an  entrance.  In  June  Mr.  Nardi  was  succeed- 
ed by  Mr.  Pirazzini,  so  that  he  could  give  his 
time  to  the  Summer  Tent  Work.  These  two 
brethren  preached  every  night  from  June  ist 
to  September  15  to  crowds  in  the  Italian  tent 
and  at  the  same  time  kept  alive  and  flourishing 
our  mission.  The  interest  does  not  abate. 
Forty  adults  have  been  admitted  to  communion 
after  giving  full  proof  of  the  genuineness  of 
their  conversion.  A  hundred  more,  coming 
out  from  Rome,  and  seeking  the  benefits  of 
evangelical  preaching,  would  gladly  enter  our 
church  as  communicants,  but,  mindful  of  the 
unfortunate  reputation  of  ''Little  Italy,"  our 
missionaries  exercise  extreme  caution,  requir- 
ing the  test  of  time,  as  well  as  the  test  of 
courage  under  the  frowns  and  anathemas  of 
the  priests  of  Rome.  No  organization  has  been 
attempted  or  asked  for,  but,  at  the  request  of 
those  admitted  to  the  communion,  their  names 
have  been  placed  upon  the  roll  of  the  New 
York  Church.  Thus  they  come  under  the  care 
and  discipline  of  the  Session  of  that  church 
until  they  shall  become  a  separate  organiza- 
tion. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  93 

Last  January  a  delegation  of  Italians  from 
the  Bronx  brought  a  petition,  signed  by  forty- 
three  Italians,  asking  to  be  organized  as  a 
Presbyterian  church.  They  had  listened  to  the 
preaching  of  Mr.  Nardi  and  Mr.  D'Anchise. 
Many  of  them  had  been  members  elsewhere. 
They  were  Italians  of  the  better  class.  That 
petition  is  in  the  hands  of  a  Special  Committee 
of  this  Presbytery.  Meanwhile  your  Com- 
mittee established  a  mission  for  them  in  Mor- 
ris Avenue,  with  young  Mr.  D'Anchise  in 
charge.  An  old  saloon  was  converted  into  a 
chapel.  The  people  rallied,  bought  furniture, 
gas  fixtures,  a  stove,  hymnbooks  and  Bibles, 
and  have  met  the  current  expenses,  except  the 
rentals.  There  has  been  no  better  or  more 
successful  work  under  the  care  of  your  Com- 
mittee than  this.  The  room  has  never  at  any 
time  been  adequate  to  the  needs  of  the  con- 
gregation or  the  Sabbath-school.  One  twice 
as  large  would  be  filled  at  once.  Forty  per- 
sons have  been  received  into  the  communion 
of  our  Church  and  enrolled  with  the  New 
York  Church  pending  the  organization. 

Your  Committee  cannot  too  strongly  urge 
the  necessity  of  permanent  and  enlarged  ac- 
commodations for  these  two  Italian  congrega- 


94  Michele  Nardi 

tions  and  the  church  of  the  Bohemian  Breth- 
ren. They  are  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
young  men  of  exceptional  piety  and  ability. 
Surely  no  better  use  could  be  made  of  a  mod- 
erate amount  of  money  than  in  providing 
suitable  houses  of  worship  for  these  congrega- 
tions. 

The  following  report  also  is  full  of  interest, 
written  by  Mr.  Nardi  himself,  on  the  work  of 
The  Wect  Side  Italian  Church. 

AS  we  look  back  over  the  twelve  months 
of  191 1  and  realize  how  the  hand  of  the 
Almighty  guided  us  all  along,  we  can  say 
heartily,  "Praise  the  Lord!"  Indeed  it  was  a 
year  of  great  blessing  in  many  ways.  Our 
people,  the  members  and  the  friends  who  at- 
tend our  services,  had  no  real  poverty,  for  all 
had  more  or  less  work.  Neither  was  it  a  year 
of  much  sickness ;  rather  a  year  of  much  in- 
crease, for  a  number  of  healthy  babies  came  to 
make  glad  the  homes  and  the  church.  Besides, 
our  fellowship  with  the  pastor  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Alexander  Chapel  at  7  and  9  King 
Street,  where  we  worship  for  the  time  being, 
has  been  one  of  the  most  peaceful  and  cor- 


The  Italian  Evangelist  95 

dial  association,  two  congregations,  English 
and  Italian,  worshipping  together.  In  the 
changing  of  place,  we  have  lost  none  of  our 
members  nor  of  our  friends,  but  we  have  had 
rather  an  increase  from  service  to  service. 

Our  young  people  have  been  very  generous 
in  giving  toward  foreign  missions  as  well  as 
for  those  at  home.  About  two  months  ago  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Glover  of  China,  addressed  our 
Christian  Endeavor  Society.  They  told  of 
their  seventeen  years'  experience  in  China — 
of  their  school  and  orphanage  and  finally  they 
closed  their  discourse  with  the  story  of  a  little 
baby,  just  bom,  wrapped  in  paper  and  left  to 
die  in  a  neglected  place  of  the  city.  Mrs. 
Glover  opened  the  package,  and  as  she  had 
supposed,  she  found  it  contained  a  little  baby 
at  the  point  of  death ;  her  husband  being  pres- 
ent and  being  a  physician,  saved  her  life.  She 
is  now  one  of  the  brightest  in  the  institution. 
Our  young  people  asked  the  privilege  of  being 
responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  the  girl  for 
at  least  this  year,  and  they  gave  Dr.  Glover 
then  and  there  twenty  dollars,  and  we  all  en- 
joyed it  so  much. 

In  closing  this  report,  we  must  not  forget 
that  among  our  members  we  have  at  present  a 


96  Michele  Nardi 

very  promising  young  man  studying  at  Dr. 
White's  Bible  Teachers'  Training  School,  pre- 
paring himself  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Another 
one  of  a  very  fine  family,  finished  his  course 
at  Dr.  White's  school  last  year.  He  is  now  the 
associate  editor  of  the  Italian  Evangelical  pa- 
per 'TAraldo"  published  by  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Education. 

It  has  been  a  year  of  great  spiritual  blessing, 
for  the  Gospel  has  been  preached  in  all  its  full- 
ness and  power,  and  we  see  its  effects  as  we 
visit  in  the  homes.    To  God  be  all  the  glory. 


Chapter   V 
CLOSING  MINISTRY  IN  ITALY 

AFTER  almost  six  years  of  work  under 
the  *'New  York  City  Mission,"  Mr. 
Nardi  again  felt  a  longing  desire  to  go  to 
Italy  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  go  even  as 
far  as  Tripoli,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
Italians  who  were  rushing  into  the  new  terri- 
tory. Although  it  was  very  hard  for  them 
to  separate  from  the  loving  associations  and 
the  dear  people  whom  they  loved  so  much,  Mr. 
Nardi  resigned  his  charge,  and  Rev.  Joseph 
Brunn  came  to  take  his  place. 

The  following  accounts  tell  of  the  farewell 
service : 

Mr.  Nardi's  Farewell 

ON  the  evening  of  April  30th  the  audi- 
torium of  Charlton  Street  Memorial 
Church  was  filled  with  members  of  the  church 
and  friends  of  the  Rev.  Michele  Nardi,  who 
was  holding  his  farewell  service  as  pastor  of 
the  ItaUan  work  of  the  church.  Mr.  Nardi 
and  Dr.  Pirazzini  spoke  in  Italian.    There  was 


98  Michele    Nardi 

also  singing  in  Italian  by  three  of  the  young 
men  of  the  church  and  in  English  by  one  of  the 
young  women.  Miss  White,  representing  the 
City  Mission,  spoke  of  Mr.  Nardi's  work,  and 
the  Rev.  Seth  C.  Craig,  on  behalf  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Charlton  Street,  presented  to  Mr.  Nardi 
a  gold  watch  suitably  inscribed.  To  Mrs. 
Nardi  a  travelling  bag  was  given.  The  re- 
cipients of  these  gifts  thanked  the  people  in 
appropriate  terms.  It  is  difficult  to  express 
the  love  which  these  two  workers  have  for 
the  people  of  Charlton  Street,  which  is  recip- 
rocated by  those  for  whom  they  have  labored 
so  faithfully  for  over  five  years. 

On  March  5th,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Italian  Work  of  City  Mission  Directors, 
Mr.  Nardi  presented  his  resignation  as  pastor 
of  Italian  work  at  Broome  Street  Tabernacle 
and  Charlton  Street  Memorial  Church,  stating 
as  his  reason  for  doing  so  the  fact  that  he  in- 
tended going  to  Italy  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
gaging in  evangelistic  work  there.  After  ex- 
pressions of  sincere  regret  at  Mr.  Nardi's  in- 
tention of  severing  his  connection  with  our 
Society,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted : 

"Resolved :  That  with  great  regret  we  ask 
the  Board  of  Directors  to  accept  the  resigna- 


The  Italian  Evangelist  99 

Hon  of  the  Rev.  Michele  Nardi  as  Italian  pas- 
tor of  Broome  Street  Tabernacle  and  Charl- 
ton Street  Memorial  Church,  to  take  effect 
May  I,  1913,  and  that  we  express  our  high 
appreciation  of  the  faithfulness,  fidelity  and 
fruitage  of  his  five  years  of  service  in  connec- 
tion with  City  Mission." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors, 
held  on  March  12th,  Mr.  Nardi's  resignation 
was  accepted  and  the  President  was  directed 
to  convey  to  him  the  regret  of  the  Board  and 
their  appreciation  of  the  splendid  service  which 
he  rendered  in  connection  with  our  two 
churches  for  Italians. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nardi  leave  our  work  with 
the  best  wishes  of  their  fellow-workers  and 
of  those  for  whom  they  labored.  We  wish 
them  God  speed  and  pray  that  the  Heavenly 
Father  will  lead  and  help  them  in  the  future  as 
He  has  in  the  past. 

They  then  spent  a  few  months  in  German- 
town,  Philadelphia,  before  leaving  for  Italy. 
Here  Mr.  Nardi  looked  for  the  last  time 
upon  the  work  he  had  started  some  years  be- 
fore, and  witnessed  faithfully  to  the  power  of 
the  Gospel  in  the  churches  of  Philadelphia. 
It  was  also  a  great  joy  to  him  to  preach  in 


TOO  Michele  Nardi 

the  "Whosoever  Gospel  Mission"  (the  rescue 
Mission  of  Germantown),  and  he  prayed  for 
that  work  until  his  last  day.  While  in  Phila- 
delphia, he  received  a  telegram  telling  of  his 
brother's  illness,  but  he  did  not  arrive  at  Pitts- 
burgh at  his  brother's  home  until  after  he  had 
passed  away.  He  then  preached  his  brother's 
funeral  sermon  and  had  the  privilege  of  wit- 
nessing both  in  Italian  and  in  English  while  in 
Pittsburgh. 

Mrs.  Nardi  had  been  visiting  relatives  in 
Pittsburgh  and  vicinity,  so  they  both  returned 
to  Germantown,  where  at  the  home  of  Mrs. 
S.  G.  Beck  they  celebrated  their  twenty-fifth 
wedding  anniversary  (a  silver  wedding). 
Mrs.  Beck  had  invited  many  of  their  friends 
both  in  this  country  and  abroad  to  share  in 
this  celebration.  The  letters  accompanying 
the  gifts  were  appreciated  even  more  than  the 
gifts.  They  kept  them  and  had  the  pleasure 
of  reading  them  while  crossing  the  ocean. 
Mr.  Nardi  often  spoke  of  the  letters  with 
much  feeling. 

On  the  5th  of  July  they  went  to  New  York, 
and  on  the  following  Sunday  Mr.  Nardi 
preached  his  last  sermon  to  the  dear  people  in 
the  Charlton  and  Broome  St.  Churches  and 


The  Italian  Evangelist  loi 

they  "sorrowed"  most  because  of  the  words  he 
said  to  them  "I  shall  see  your  faces  no  more 
on  this  side."  On  July  loth,  191 3,  they  left 
New  York  Harbor  on  the  Cunard  Line  and 
sailed  directly  to  Genoa,  Italy. 

The  parting  was  a  real  blessing  to  all, 
though  sorrowful.  There  were  many  Italian 
miinsters  and  missionaries  and  friends  who 
had  gathered  on  board  for  a  farewell  service. 
They  sang  some  of  the  beautiful  Italian 
hymns  and  read  the  Scripture  and  had  prayer. 

A  number  of  Catholic  Bishops  and  priests 
were  also  sailing,  and  seeing  the  blessed  fel- 
lowship we  had,  one  of  them  asked  one  of  the 
Italians  who  this  is,  and  he  said  "Father 
Nardi."  But  he  found  out  later  he  was  not 
one  of  their  kind  of  "Fathers." 

They  had  the  opportunity  on  board  to  wit- 
ness to  Christ  and  give  out  tracts.  But  they 
were  not  allowed  to  have  a  meeting.  But  there 
were  some  Christian  people  on  board,  with 
whom  they  had  fellowship,  and  the  journey 
was  very  restful. 

On  July  24  they  arrived  in  Genoa  and  were 
met  by  the  beloved  Italian  brother  who  had 
labored  with  them  in  Rome  some  years  before. 
It  was  a  happy  meeting  to  see  each  other  again 


T02  Michele  Nardi 

face  to  face,  and  to  be  associated  once  more 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

Their  first  destination  was  Rapallo  on  the 
Riviera  where  they  found  a  httle  company  of 
behevers,  who  had  been  brought  into  the  hght 
through  a  dear  friend,  Miss  Mauro,  from 
Washington,  D.  C,  who  had  resided  here  with 
her  family  a  few  years  and  had  been  much 
used  of  the  Lord  among  these  people.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Nardi  soon  felt  at  home  among  them 
as  they  found  they  were  one  in  the  Lord.  As 
Miss  Mauro  was  residing  in  England  at  this 
time,  the  little  flock  was  glad  to  have  Mr 
Nardi  preach  to  them  which  he  did  in  the 
power  of  the  Spirit. 

Rapallo  is  a  beautiful  resort,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  places  in  Italy,  where  Germans, 
and  English,  and  Americans  spend  the  winter. 
Those  who  were  Christians  came  to  the  meet- 
ing on  Sunday  afternoun. 

Mr.  Nardi  did  not  confine  himself  to  Rap- 
allo, but  he  preached  the  Gospel  along  the 
Riviera  and  especially  at  Sarzano  where  there 
was  an  Italian  family  who  had  labored  with 
Mr.  Nardi  in  America.  This  brother  opened 
his  home  for  Gospel  meetings,  and  his  house 
being  on  the  public  road,  he  put  in  Mosaic  on 


The  Italian  Evangelist  103 

the  door  step  the  verse  Jno.  3:16  where  all 
the  passers-by  had  to  read  it.  This  town  is 
not  far  from  Spezzia,  so  Mr.  Nardi  went 
to  and  fro  on  the  train  and  also  visited  the 
brethren  at  Rome,  and  found  many  of  the 
first  converts  happy  to  see  him  again.  It  was 
during  his  visit  to  Rome  that  the  Temple  in 
memory  of  John  S.  Kennedy,  the  gift  of  his 
wife  to  the  Waldensian  Society,  was  dedicat- 
ed. The  brethren  of  Rome  made  him  promise 
at  that  time  that  he  would  again  return  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  them.  He  had  planned 
to  return  there  early  in  the  fall,  but  God  had 
planned  otherwise. 

He  returned  to  Rapallo  in  February,  and 
in  April  a  Christian  Doctor,  a  German,  was 
visiting  Rapallo,  and  he  told  Mr.  Xardi  one 
day  that  he  would  like  to  examine  him.  ''You 
are  a  sick  man,  Mr.  Nardi,"  he  said.  Mr. 
Nardi  laughingly  said  "Nardi  is  all  right." 
He  did  not  realize  that  he  was  failing,  but 
went  on  preaching  the  same  as  ever.  The 
Doctor  had  told  some  of  the  English  friends 
that  Mr.  Nardi  had  hardening  of  the  arteries, 
but  Mr.  Nardi  knew  nothing  of  it. 

Toward  the  end  of  June  he  began  to  fail, 
but  he  did  not  give  up  and  go  to  bed  until 


I04  Michele  Nardi 

six  days  before  he  passed  away.  Peritonitis 
had  set  in,  but  the  Doctor  gave  out  that  the 
hardening  of  his  arteries  was  the  cause  of  his 
death. 

During  the  last  moments  of  his  hfe  on 
earth  he  was  growing  more  and  more  heavenly 
and  more  matured  in  his  spiritual  life. 

Once  he  said  that  though  the  pain  was 
great,  it  lifted  him  higher  and  higher  into  the 
heaven.  The  nurse  heard  him  pray  that  al- 
though the  pain  was  great,  if  the  Lord  wished 
to  have  it  be  seven  times  hotter  and  even  much 
worse,  he  was  willing  to  bear  it.  His  power  in 
prayer  was  marvelous. 

The  Lord  was  evidently  telling  him  that  he 
would  take  him  home  as  many  remarks  that  he 
made  during  these  months  now  show. 

He  preached  his  last  sermon  about  ten  days 
before  his  departure,  and  took  for  his  text 
"Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground 
and  die ;  it  abideth  alone." 

All  who  heard  him  said  it  was  an  inspired 
message,  especially  when  he  put  up  his  arms 
and  said  "I  am  ready  to  go,"  and  it  seemed  as 
if  he  would  be  translated  then  and  there." 

On  the  last  day  of  his  life  on  earth  he 
asked  the  nurse   in  the  morning  'Ts   it   six 


The  Italian  Evangelist  105 

o'clock?"  and  she  said  "It  is  eleven."  And  he 
said  "Oh !  it  is  so  long  until  six.  I  am  going 
home,  I  am  already  in  heaven."  And  with 
that  a  beautiful  smile  broke  over  his  face. 
Then  he  asked  for  his  wife  who  was  out  of 
the  room  at  the  time.  She  came  and  gave  him 
verses  of  Scripture  one  after  the  other.  "Be- 
hold now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly,"  etc., 
and  others.  When  she  quoted  the  verse  'When 
all  my  labors  and  trials  are  o'er"  etc.,  he  said 
"Amen."  When  she  said  "My  darling  Mich- 
ele,  I  will  be  so  lonely  without  you,"  he  pressed 
her  hand  to  the  very  last  until  he  had  de- 
parted. 

A  number  of  the  brethren  were  about  him, 
and  he  had  all  the  care  that  they  could  give 
him.  Much  prayer  had  been  offered  for  his 
restoration,  but  the  fruit  was  ripe  for  the 
garner,  so  it  dropped  into  the  Kingdom.  He 
had  often  said  that  he  wanted  to  go  on  before 
and  come  back  w^th  Jesus  on  one  of  those 
white  horses  spoken  of  in  Revelation.  The 
Lord  took  him  at  his  word. 


Chapter  VI 

FUNERAL  AND  MEMORIAL 
SERVICES 

THE  funeral  services  were  conducted  on 
July  23rd  in  the  morning.  He  had  passed 
away  on  July  21st  a  little  before  5  p.  m.  Dif- 
ferent Italian  ministers  of  Italy  were  present, 
the  one  from  Chiavari,  a  Baptist,  from  Genoa 
a  Methodist,  also  the  Pastor  of  the  *'Breth- 
ren"  from  Genoa,  and  Rev.  Mr.  D'Anchise 
from  America. 

Of  this  service  Rev.  G.  D.  Anchise  writes : 
Everything  was  conducted  in  a  very  simple 
manner  and  the  Word  was  preached  in  the 
hall  and  in  the  cemetery.  Before  leaving  the 
hall  Airs.  Nardi  sang  a  beautiful  hymn  in  Ital- 
ian, which  greatly  affected  the  whole  audience. 
Air.  Nardi  was  laid  in  a  lovely  spot  surround- 
ed by  olive  trees,  and  a  beautiful  palm  over- 
shadows the  grave.  His  wife  adds,  *'As  he 
was  lowered  into  the  grave  'Peace  like  a  river 
filled  my  soul,  and  the  Lord  spoke  to  me,  say- 
ing, "Yet  a  little  while  and  he  that  shall  come 
will  come  and  will  not  tarry."  ' 


The  Italian  Evangelist  107 

"I  felt  that  I  was  not  alone,  for  the  Lord 
had  given  me  beside  Himself  many  good 
friends  among  both  the  English  and  the  Ital- 
ians of  Rapallo.  After  a  few  days  Mr.  Phillip 
Mauro  and  his  daughter  arrived,  and  we  be- 
gan to  make  arrangements  for  my  return  to 
America.  Then  the  War  broke  out,  and  we 
were  delayed.  I  wanted  to  see  the  tomb  stone 
set  in  place  before  leaving.  As  the  grave  was 
in  the  part  alloted  to  the  Protestants,  just 
oposite  the  large  entrance,  we  put  verses  on 
both  sides  of  the  pure  white  marble  head  stone 
so  that  all  who  passed  by  would  have  to  see 
them ;  even  those  passing  by  on  the  street. 

'The  Catholics  passing  to  their  part  of  the 
Cemetery  must  also  see  them.  Rev.  i :  5,  'Unto 
Him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our 
sins  in  His  own  blood,'  is  the  verse  on  one 
side,  and  on  the  other,  i  Jno.  5:  11,  12,  'And 
this  is  the  record  that  God  has  given  to  us 
eternal  life;  and  this  life  is  in  His  Son.  He 
that  hath  the  Son  hath  life;  and  he  that  hath 
not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  life.'  This  is  on 
the  side  toward  the  public  street. 

"The  day  before  leaving  Italy  for  America 
I  planted  violets  on  the  grave." 

And  thus  this  precious  life  was  laid  down 


io8  Michele  Nardi 

for  the  Lord  and  the  brethren.  He  did  not 
feel  that  he  was  old,  but  still  looked  forward 
to  going  to  Tripoli,  but  the  Lord  had  need  of 
him. 

The  people  of  Rapollo  saw  with  surprise 
the  goodly  throng  of  Protestants  that  ac- 
companied our  Brother  Nardi  to  his  last  earth- 
ly resting  place.  They  never  thought  that 
in  those  few  months  of  residence  among 
them  the  dear,  faithful  servant  of  the  Lord — 
despising  hardship  and  persecution — had 
brought,  under  the  Divine  guidance  and  in- 
spiration, so  many  of  their  countrymen  to 
Jesus. 

In  the  beautiful  little  cemetery  for  the  Pro- 
testants, on  the  slope  of  the  hills  surrounding 
the  Gulf,  many  strangers  were  attracted  by 
the  singing  of  hymns,  and  with  tears  in  their 
eyes  they  watched  as  the  simple  service  pro- 
ceeded, and  the  beautiful  words  of  faith  an- 
nouncing the  resurrection  resounded  among 
the  graves. 

Those  who  were  present  promised  to  attend 
the  services  of  the  little  Church  in  Rapallo,  and 
I  am  sure  that  many  others  will  follow  the 
same  example. 


i\ 


MiCHELE  NARDI 

UN    SeftVC 

BCL  siquoRE  qrsu'cRisTO 

N&re  j^^iVICNAMO  RCL  1850 

Si  lOSOKMeNTQ'iKCiiiSTO 

!l  2i  LUCLiO  iSU 


CtSiJ  CfirSTO CI  HI  AMiTi 

E  C)  HA  LAWTI 

CGL  sua  SiNQUl 

Af^QC.i.5 


MICHELE    XAUDIS   (iKAVE 


The  Italian  Evangelist  109 

Michele  Nardi  is  living  yet  in  that  lovely  lit- 
tle city  of  the  Eastern  Riviera — living  in  the 
heart  of  those  that  heard  him  announcing 
with  his  touching  voice  and  unsurpassed  tone 
of  sincerity  the  blessed  news  of  our  salvation, 
living  as  well,  in  the  example  of  his  life  so  full 
of  sacrifice  and  dedication  to  the  cause  of  the 
Master  and  the  consolation  of  his  fellowmen. 

This  will  be  true  not  only  of  Rapallo;  but 
also  of  S.  Michele,  S.  Margherita,  Ruta,  Lar- 
zana,  wherever  he  spent  the  last  energies  of 
his  life  preaching  the  Word  of  God. 

Those  that  listened  to  his  last  sermon  said 
that  he  showed  a  marked  preparedness  to  meet 
his  God.  As  in  tender  tones  he  described  the 
reality  and  happiness  of  being  with  the  Lord, 
all  the  congregation  had  the  impression  of 
"hearing  him  speak  from  other  worlds." 

So  will  our  last  remembrance  be  if  we 
follow  the  example  of  our  Master. 

I  am  sure  that  for  many  years  among  those 
fishermen  that  dropped  the  nets  to  take  their 
caps  off  while  the  funeral  of  our  dear  brother 
was  passing  along  the  shore,  there  will  be  re- 
peated an  innocent  story,  that  ''once  in  Ra- 
pallo a  good  preacher  saw  the  Heaven  opened 


I  TO  Michele  Nardi 

and    the    Lord    awaiting   him    while    he    was 
preaching  a  few  days  before  his  death." 


The  Rev.  Joseph  Brunn  also  writes: 

On  August  5th  I  received  a  postal  card 
from  the  Rev.  J.  D'Anchise,  dated  Ra- 
pallo,  Italy,  July  23d,  in  which  I  read,  'The 
news  that  I  am  giving  you  is  sad  anid  unex- 
pected. Dear  Mr.  Nardi  has  finished  his 
course,  and  has  gone  to  his  Lord.  This  morn- 
ing we  held  his  funeral.  We  laid  him  on  a 
little  hill  in  the  cemetery  of  Rapallo,  where 
he  will  rest  under  the  sun  of  his  beloved  coun- 
try. Poor  Mrs.  Nardi  is  a  living  example  of 
faith  and  courage.  Tell  it  to  all  his  friends. 
He  died  of  peritonitis,  worn  by  these  last 
years  of  hard  work.  A  few  days  before  he 
died  he  wrote  a  letter  full  of  new  plans  for 
new  work  in  other  places.  It  is  a  noble  hfe 
that  has  passed ;  may  God  raise  up  others  like 
him." 

We  thought  Mr.  Nardi  well  and,  as  usual, 
active  in  his  work.    I  cannot  express  in  words 


The  Italian  Evangelist  iii 

the  feeUng  produced  on  me  by  the  sad  mess- 
age. The  cry  came  spontaneously  from  my 
heart :  My  God,  what  shall  we  do  without  Mr. 
Nardi? 

Mr.  Nardi  was  rightly  called  the  Moody  of 
the  Italians.  His  zeal,  piety,  sincerity  and 
faith  are  known  to  all.  He  founded  many 
missions  and  churches  in  Chicago,  Pittsburgh, 
"Vlneland,  Philadelphia,  and  other  places  in 
Italy  and  America.  He  was  a  real  witness 
at  all  times  and  to  all  people,  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  but  the  congregation  of  the 
Charlton  Street  Memorial  Church  is  one  of 
the  best  monuments  of  his  faithful  labors  for 
his  Master.  It  was  most  fitting  that  a  memo- 
rial service  should  be  held  for  him  at  Charl- 
ton Street,  as  it  was  held  on  Sunday  evening, 
September  13th.  The  edifice  was  crowded  to 
the  doors  before  the  service  started.  Ten 
Italian  ministers  were  present,  and  many  more 
would  have  been  there  had  the  service  been 
held  at  a  more  convenient  hour. 

The  Rev.  A.  H.  McKinney,  the  first  speaker, 
said  in  part:  ''Mr.  Nardi  was  not  a  perfect 
man;  there  was  only  one  perfect  man,  Jesus 
Christ.  Mr.  Nardi  was  a  man  of  tremendous 
conviction.     There  were  no  ifs  or  buts  in  his 


112  Michele  Nardi 

knowledge  of  the  Heavenly  Father;  his  God 
and  his  Christ  were  real  and  living.  He  car- 
ried the  force  of  his  conviction  to  the  hearts 
and  souls  of  his  people.  He  was  also  a  man  of 
great  zeal;  one  could  not  know  Mr.  Nardi 
without  realizing  that  he  was  full  of  the  grace 
and  power  that  comes  from  the  Spirit  of  God. 
He  was  also  a  man  of  unbounded  patience ;  he 
was  patient  with  the  young  and  with  the  old. 
It  was  because  of  this  God-like  quality  that 
people  loved  him."  Dr.  McKinney  closed  his 
remarks  by  exhorting  all  to  continue  the  work 
laid  down  by  this  faithful  servant  of  God. 

The  next  speaker  was  Professor  A.  Piraz- 
zini,  of  the  Bible  Teachers  Training  School. 
He  said:  "Twenty  years  ago  Mr.  Nardi  came 
to  Rome  and  opened  a  hall  in  one  of  the 
aristocratic  streets  of  the  Eternal  City.  It 
was  a  revelation  to  see  officers  of  the  army, 
government  officials  and  college  professors 
coming  to  hear  this  simple  preacher  of  the 
Gospel.  Many  of  his  converts  are  to  this  day 
a  power  in  the  churches  of  Rome.  Had  Mr. 
Nardi  continued  in  worldly  affairs  he  would 
have  died  a  millionaire,  but  he  preferred  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  Had  he  been  a 
Roman  Catholic,  he  would  be  worshipped  as 


MICHELE    XAKDTS  GRAVE 


The  Italian  Evangelist  113 

a  saint.  He  always  selected  hard  places  and 
when  he  had  the  work  well  started  he  would 
go  to  another.' 

The  Rev.  A.  DePietro,  representing  the 
Italian  Ministerial  Association,  also  spoke 
briefly. 

During  the  memorial  service  a  picture  of 
Mr.  Nardi  made  by  Mr.  Eugene  Manzo  was 
unveiled.  Great  appreciation  was  shown  by 
the  people  in  their  silent  gaze  upon  the  kindly 
features  of  their  former  pastor  and  true 
friend. 

Dr.  Schauftier,  who  could  not  be  present  be- 
cause of  other  engagements,  sent  a  letter  which 
was  read.  He  wrote  in  part :  "I  have  ever  had 
Mr.  Nardi  in  fond  remembrance.  I  learned  to 
know  him  as  one  of  the  most  Christian  men 
I  ever  met.  His  one  thought  was  for  the 
glory  of  his  Master  and  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  his  fellow-men,  especially  those  from  Italy. 
His  memory  is  fragrant  and  blessed/' 


An  Appreciation 

I  SHALL  ever  be  grateful  to  God  for  having 
known  my  beloved  friend,  Michele  Nardi. 
It  may  v^ell  be  said  of  him  that  through  the 
faith  which  was  his  and  which  moulded  and 
affected  his  entire  life —  though  being  dead  he 
yet  speaketh.  No  life  that  is  lived  in  God  can 
die.  It  continues  its  blessed  existence  not  only 
in  that  glorious  land  beyond,  but  it  continues 
to  be  a  living  factor  in  the  world,  among  those 
who  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  glory  of 
that  life. 

As  I  think  of  my  friend  who  has  only  passed 
beyond  the  vail,  I  cannot  help  but  think  more 
clearly  of  my  blessed  Lord  and  Master  whom 
he  served  and  loved.  There  was  that  abandon 
in  him  to  the  Lord's  work  that  closely  linked 
him  to  the  Divine  Son  of  God.  He  was  a 
man  who  never  thought  of  self — nor  did  he 
deem  any  task  too  arduous  if  he  might  accom- 
plish the  work  which  God  had  committed  to 
him.  He  was  clearly  a  servant  of  the  Most 
High.  He  considered  his  life  as  belonging 
to  God  and  as  a  thing  to  be  used  for  his  glory. 
He  never  looked  upon  himself  as  the  hired 
man  of  any  committee  or  organization ;  he  had 
his  commission  for  service  from  God,  and  the 
financial  assistance  which  was  given  him  he 


The  Italian  Evangelist  115 

accepted  as  a  gift  from  God  that  he  might  do 
His  will.  He  was  no  time  server — ^he  ex- 
pected his  Lord  to  come — but  it  mattered  not 
to  him  when  He  should  come.  His  life  was 
constantly  lived  as  in  the  presence  of  God. 

I  shall  never  forget  my  first  meeting  with 
him  in  the  city  of  Naples  over  seventeen  years 
ago.  He  loved  to  be  in  the  house  of  God. 
Even  as  God's  Son  at  12  years  of  age  was  in 
the  temple  doing  his  Father's  will,  so  our 
friend  was  attracted  always  to  the  places 
where  God's  people  gather. 

For  the  moment  it  seemed  but  a  mere  chance 
that  I  should  meet  this  man  of  God  who 
could  speak  English  and  with  whom  I  could 
communicate.  But  as  time  went  on,  I  con- 
cluded that  in  the  working  out  of  the  lives  of 
God's  people  there  is  no  chance,  but  that  all 
events  tend  toward  one  end — and  that  is  the 
accomplishment  of  God's  holy  purpose  in  the 
World. 

I  was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  country,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury prior  to  that  I  had  passed  through  that 
city  of  contrasts  on  my  way  to  the  then,  to  me, 
unknown  America.  I  can  never  express  the 
joy   I    felt    in   meeting   an   Italian- American 


Ii6  Michele  Nardi 

Protestant  in  that  city  of  beauty  and  supersti- 
tion. Our  conversation,  as  we  walked  through 
the  Neapohtan  streets,  was,  as  might  be  sup- 
posed, of  God,  His  work  for  the  salvation  of 
man,  and  Italy's  need  of  the  Gospel.  The 
warm,  frank,  sincere  heart  of  Brother  Nardi 
shone  through  his  face  and  words.  I  was 
attracted  to  him,  and  a  true  friendship  began 
upon  that  night  which  will  continue  through- 
out eternity. 

It  has  been  said,  and  I  believe  justly  so,  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  communicated  from  soul 
to  soul.  The  souls  that  are  on  fire,  tJiat  are 
burning  with  the  zeal  of  God — set  other  souls 
aglow.  This  certainly  was  true  of  Brother 
Nardi.  No  one  could  be  with  him  ever  for  a 
day  without  loving  him  and  at  the  same  time 
without  catching  somewhat  of  his  spirit.  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  much  of  him  during 
my  six  months  stay  in  Rome.  And  I  saw 
then  the  great  devotion  of  the  man  to  the 
cause  of  God.  Night  after  night,  and  day  after 
day,  he  was  ever  about  his  Father's  business. 
Preaching  was  his  life — but  the  power  of  his 
preaching  was  not  in  his  finished  literary  style, 
not  in  his  use  of  classic  words,  but  in  the  fact 
that  he  had  a  message,  and  that  message  was 


The  Italian  Evangelist  117 

given  with  his  whole  being.  He  really 
preached  as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men.  He  in- 
carnated in  his  own  hfe  the  substance  of  his 
preaching.  Men  could  not  help  feeling  the 
reality  of  his  Christian  Hfe.  His  was  a  Hfe 
given  over  completely  to  God  for  the  service 
of  men.  He  never  considered  his  own  interest 
or  personal  comfort.  Whatever  was  for  the 
welfare  and  advancement  of  the  kingdom— 
that  was  his  meat  and  drink. 

Then,  too,  while  he  had  his  own  personal 
doctrinal  views,  he  was  able  to  work  with  any 
one  who  loved  God  and  His  service.  I  shall 
never  forget  how,  when  I  was  just  beginning 
my  work  in  Brooklyn,  I  was  compelled  to  pass 
through  some  very  difficult  experiences.  Bro- 
ther Nardi,  like  his  divine  Master,  always 
ready  to  help  those  who  needed  help,  offered 
to  come  over  and  help  me  in  a  series  of  meet- 
ings which  lasted  five  weeks.  For  all  those 
nights,  rain  or  shine,  he  came  from  his  home 
uptown  in  New  York  to  assist  me  during  that 
memorable  season  of  refreshment.  How  our 
people  loved  to  hear  him,  to  see  him,  to  speak 
with  him ! 

In  these  days  when  there  seems  to  be  so 
much  apathy  and  indifference  to  religious  mat- 


ii8  Michele  Nardi 

ters,  we  hear  it  said  that  rehgion  has  lost  its 
hold.  But  those  who  say  this  never  have 
known  what  living  religion  really  means. 
When  religion  is  lived  and  incarnated — that  is, 
when  the  love  of  God  is  truly  seen  in  the  life 
of  a  servant  of  God,  it  will  always  appeal. 
Brother  Nardi  never  attempted  any  religious 
movement  without  getting  results,  without  im- 
pressing people  with  the  idea  that  he  was  a 
servant  of  the  most  high  God,  that  he  had  a 
message  which  was  vital  to  his  own  life  and 
therefore  of  infinite  value  to  those  to  whom  he 
spoke. 

He  was  pre-eminently  a  founder  of  church- 
es. He  has  established  and  built  more  Protes- 
tant-Italian churches  than  any  other  man 
living  or  dead.  To  see  Mr.  Nardi  at  his  best, 
to  see  his  face  shine  with  the  glory  of  God, 
one  had  to  see  him  as  he  was  conducting  a 
meeting  during  one  of  his  great  tent  cam- 
paigns. I  shall  never  forget  my  visit  to  him 
while  he  was  laying  the  foundation  for  the 
big  church  in  Philadelphia.  Other  men  had 
worked  there,  others  had  attempted  to  reach 
the  Italians,  but  all  agreed  in  saying — ''this  is 
an  awfully  hard  field" ;  all  saw  great  difficul- 
ties ;  all  saw  impossibilities.    They  all,  like  the 


The  Italian  Evangelist  119 

spies  of  ancient  times,  said  in  their  reports : 
"The  people  are  really  in  need  of  God,  but 
they  are  very  much  opposed  to  God." 
Brother  Nardi  was  of  the  Caleb  and  Joshua 
type.  He  believed  that  the  thing  that  seemed 
impossible  to  men  could  be  accomplished  in 
God  and  through  His  Spirit  he  opened  his  tent 
— the  first  to  be  opened  in  this  country  or  any 
country  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  Italians. 
The  results  were  beyond  anything  the  Protes- 
tant people  of  Philadelphia  could  ever  have 
expected.  Night  after  night  for  three  months 
that  man  of  God  held  that  great  audience  of 
six  or  seven  himdred  and  fed  it  upon  the 
Word  of  God  and  drew  out  of  it  a  group  of 
elect  souls  who  formed  the  foundation  for  the 
church  that  is  now  rendering  such  fine  service. 
This  same  solid  work  was  repeated  in  three 
different  places  of  New  York  City,  and  as  a 
result  of  his  untiring  efforts  and  consecrated 
work  three  beautiful  churches  have  been  built 
in  this  city. 

Brother  Nardi's  character  and  spirit  shone 
through  everything  he  did.  He  was  a  con- 
sistent Christian.  His  life  was  an  open  book. 
You  always  knew  where  he  stood  on  any  ques- 
tion.   No  one  ever  felt  a  sense  of  uncertainty 


T20  Michele  Nardi 

about  this  man.  His  yea  was  yea  and  nay 
was  nay.  There  were  those  who  took  advan- 
tage of  his  sincere  and  open  soul,  but  he  would 
never  change  his  method  of  life.  He  had  such 
boundless  confidence  that  *'all  things  work  to- 
gether for  good  to  them  that  love  God"  that 
he  could  not  be  turned  aside  from  what  he 
considered  to  be  his  duty,  no  matter  how  often 
he  was  deceived  and  disappointed.  As  I  talked 
matters  over  with  him,  he  would  give  a  hearty 
laugh  and  say,  ''Well,  God  knows  it  all  and 
He  can  fix  it  all  up — He  can  make  it  all  right." 
To  him  God  was  a  reality,  a  God  who  really 
reigns  in  this  world  and  who  governs  the  af- 
fairs of  men  in  wisdom  and  holy  love.  He 
felt  he  could  place  implicit  trust  in  that  God. 
He  was  indeed  as  a  little  child,  and  therefore 
he  lived  constantly  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  practiced  the  presence  of  God. 

Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this 
land  and  throughout  Italy,  where  Italian 
churches  are  to  be  found,  there  the  name  of 
Brother  Nardi  is  held  in  deep  reverence.  It 
is  worth  while  to  live  as  he  lived.  Some  say 
he  departed  before  his  time,  he  consumed  him- 
self in  the  work  of  God.  Of  him  it  may  in 
truth  be  said,  **The   zeal   of   the  Lord   hath 


The  Italian  Evangelist  121 

eaten  him  up."  But  I  do  not  share  in  that 
view.  He  did  a  work  which  no  other  man  did 
in  this  country  in  ItaHan  evangeUzation — his 
life  has  gone  into  the  very  texture  of  the  life 
of  our  Italian  churches.  What  more  could  be 
desired?  He  might  have  lived  a  few  years 
more.  His  friends  might  have  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  his  presence  a  little  longer.  But  then 
if  he  had  spared  his  hfe,  he  might  not  have 
done  what  he  did.  ''He  that  loseth  his  life  for 
my  sake  shall  find  it,  but  he  that  seeketh  to 
save  his  Hfe  shall  lose  it.'"  Because  he  poured 
out  his  very  life's  blood,  he  brought  his  life  to 
a  close  rapidly.  He  followed  the  example  of 
his  Lord,  shared  in  His  suffering,  and  so  laid 
down  his  life.  But  that  after  all  is  his  greatest 
glory.  He  never  sought  glory.  He  would 
often  say  to  me,  "Let  others  have  the  glory  if 
I  can  do  the  will  of  God."  But  now  God 
crowns  him  with  glory.  The  eternal  word  of 
God  cannot  be  other  than  true.  "He  that  en- 
dures unto  the  end  shall  have  the  crown  of 
life." 

I  am  grateful  to  God  for  the  intimacy  which 
I  enjoyed  with  this  man  of  God.  He  has  been 
and  still  is  a  constant  inspiration  to  me.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  seasons  of  prayer  we 


122  Michele  Nardi 

had  together  with  his  dear  wife  who  shared  to 
the  last  all  his  noble  endeavors.  To  be  with 
these  servants  of  God  even  for  a  short  time 
now  and  then  was  like  breathing  the  pure  air 
of  the  mountains  in  summer  time.  I  feel  that 
I  owe  much  to  the  holy  and  self-sacrificing  ex- 
ample of  my  friend  and  brother,  Mr.  Nardi. 

The  cause  of  Italian  evangelization  has  lost, 
in  the  death  of  Brother  Nardi,  its  foremost  ad- 
vocate. I  for  one  feel  that  his  going  home  to 
be  with  God,  in  whose  company  he  lived  while 
here  on  earth,  makes  it  all  the  more  imperative 
for  me  to  give  myself  more  fully  to  the  cause 
of  Christ.  I  am  sure  that  I  express  the  senti- 
ment of  many  of  my  brethren  when  I  say  that 
Brother  Nardi  though  absent  in  the  flesh  is 
still  living  among  us  and  that  his  beautiful  and 
devoted  example  makes  us  all  long  to  imitate 
him  in  his  love  and  devotion  to  his  Master. 
Brother  Nardi  has  become  a  permanent  influ- 
ence in  the  lives  of  his  brethren.  I  may  be 
permitted  to  close  this  unfinished  and  inade- 
quate testimony  to  my  friend  by  applying  to 
him  the  words  of  St.  John   (Rev.  3:12). 

"To  him  that  overcometh,  will  I  make  a  pil- 
lar in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go 
no  more  out:  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the 


The  Italian  Evangelist  123 

name  of  my  God  and  the  name  of  the  city  of 
my  God  which  is  New  Jerusalem  which  Com- 
eth down  out  of  heaven  from  my  God,  and  I 
will  write  upon  him  my  new  name." 

Antonio  Mangani. 

Some   Personal   Recollections 

IT  is  of  a  very  few  persons,  in  our  days,  that 
it  may  be  said:  'To  have  known  him  was 
to  love  him!"  Our  beloved  Michele  was  one 
of  this  blessed  company.  I  always  remember 
the  first  time  I  met  him :  it  is  more  than  eigh- 
teen years  ago.  I  was  sitting  in  my  office  in 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Rome,  Italy,  of  which  I  was 
general  secretary.  It  was  a  time  of  peculiar 
trials  in  my  own  life,  a  time  of  deep  searchings 
of  the  heart,  a  time  of  spiritual  lonesomeness 
when  the  need  of  a  real  friend,  a  friend  of 
mature  Christian  experience  and  deep  human 
sympathies,  a  friend  wise  in  counsel,  is  felt 
more  than  ever.  As  brother  Nardi  entered 
my  office,  he  opened  his  mouth  and  said: 
"Praise  the  Lord!"  the  blessed  words  that 
were  always  on  his  lips  as  a  true  expression 
of  the  faith  which  filled  his  soul,  and  was  the 
secret  of  his  blessed  hfe.  I  felt  immediately 
that  he  was  the  friend  I  needed  whom  God 


124  Michele  Nardi 

was  sending  me,  and  my  heart  went  toward 
him,  as  if  I  had  known  him  for  years. 

Later  on  we  discovered  that  there  were 
other  things  in  common  between  us,  besides 
our  mutual  interests  and  sympathies,  yet  I  can- 
not say  that  our  friendship  became  any 
stronger  than  it  had  been  from  the  first.  We 
found  out  that  we  were  both  born  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Ravenna  (N.  Italy)  which,  as  all  Ital- 
ians know,  has  always  been  productive  in  polit- 
ical agitators  and  martyrs,  but  is  fiercely  an- 
tagonistic to  religion,  chiefly  because  Roman- 
ism is  the  only  form  of  religion  known,  and 
the  Romagnoli  hate  the  priests  bitterly.  How 
it  made  our  hearts  glad  to  think  that  we  were 
both  ''brands  plucked  from  the  fire"  and  that 
if  God  saved  us.  He  was  able  to  save  the 
Romagnoli  as  well  as  any  other  people.  Years 
later  we  also  discovered  that  we  had  family 
traditions  in  common,  and  traditions  of  the 
most  sacred  character.  When  brother  Nardi, 
as  a  young  lad,  had  enrolled  among  the  vol- 
unteers of  Garibaldi,  he  took  part  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Mentana  which  was  fought  against  the 
Papal  army,  backed  up  by  the  troops  of  Napo- 
leon III,  in  the  year  1867.  He  was  among 
those  who  assisted  my  father's  brother  when 


The  Italian  Evangelist  125 

he  fell  wounded  on  the  battlefield,  as  he  was 
leading  the  company  to  which  our  brother 
Nardi  belonged.  But  our  Michele's  modesty 
was  such  that  I  did  not  know  of  this  for  many 
years.  One  day,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  where  I  was  pastor  at  the  time,  he  hap- 
pened to  see  a  picture  of  my  uncle  which  had 
been  taken  a  few  months  before  he  fell  in  the 
battle  of  Mentana.  He  looked  at  it  intently 
for  a  few  moments,  then  he  exclaimed:  "I 
knew  that  man,  I  saw  him  fall ;  he  was  my  of- 
ficer at  Mentana !"  and  thus  the  whole  story 
came  out. 

There  are  persons  who  attract  us  at  first 
sight,  but,  on  more  intimate  acquaintance,  we 
lose  much  of  our  good  opinion  of  them.  Our 
dear  brother  was  of  the  very  opposite  kind: 
the  more  you  knew  him,  the  more  you  dis- 
covered his  sterling  qualities.  His  public  life 
and  his  private  life,  his  preaching  and  his 
practice  were  in  wonderful  harmony  and  beau- 
tifully complemented  each  other.  As  a  mis- 
sionary, he  labored  more  than  any  of  the  older 
or  younger  ministers  who  have  ever  adorned 
Italian  Protestantism  either  in  Italy  or  in 
America.  The  churches  which  he  organized 
from  the  start,  or  which  he  built  up  and  saved 


126  Michele  Nardi 

from  collapse,  may  be  counted  in  more  than 
two  figures.  In  this  country  his  missionary 
activities  stretched  far  and  wide,  from  New 
York  to  California,  north  and  south,  wher- 
ever Italian  colonies  are  to  be  found.  In  Italy 
his  labors  covered  practically  the  whole  coun- 
try from  Sicily  to  Piedmont,  at  different  times. 
I  have  had  the  privilege  to  succeed  him  in 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  after  he  had  carried  on  a 
great  Evangelistic  campaign  among  the  Ital- 
ians for  several  months.  He  had  been  sowing 
the  good  seed  in  such  a  way  tliat,  after  a  few 
months,  one  of  the  largest  (if  not  the  largest) 
Italian  Protestant  Churches  of  this  country, 
the  "First  Italian  Presbyterian  Church"  of 
Philadelphia  was  organized.  Later  on  the 
"Second  Italian  Presbyterian  Church"  in  West 
Philadelphia,  and  the  flourishing  Church  of 
Germantown,  Pa.,  were  established  as  branch- 
es of  the  "First  Church."  Now  both  are  in- 
dependent congregations  with  beautiful  build- 
ings of  their  own  and  are  led  by  young  pas- 
tors, two  of  whom  were  converted  in  the 
"First  Church."  I  am  sure  that  such  results 
could  not  have  been  obtained,  in  such  a  shon 
time,  without  the  original  impulse  given  by  our 
beloved  brother,  whose  prayers  never  ceased  to 


The  Italian  Evangelist  127 

help,  even  when  he  was  absent  in  body.  The 
establishment  of  the  Italian  Department  of  the 
Bible  Teachers'  Training  School  in  New  York 
City,  which,  during  the  seven  years  of  its  ex- 
istence has  sent  more  than  ninety  Italian 
young  men  and  women  throughout  the  United 
States  as  Bible  teachers,  missionaries,  or  as 
ordained  ministers  of  many  different  denomi- 
nations, was  due  to  a  large  extent  to  the  wise 
counsels  and  advice  that  our  beloved  brother 
gave  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  W.  White,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  School.  And  the  influence  of  the 
personality  of  Brother  Nardi  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  many  of  these  young  students,  whom  he 
often  visited  at  541  Lexington  Avenue,  where 
the  beautiful  home  of  the  school  is  located, 
was  indeed  incalculable,  especially  in  the  case 
of  those  (nearly  35  of  them)  who  had  been 
formerly  priests  in  the  Romish  church,  and 
who  saw  in  our  brother's  character  that  of  a 
real  saint,  such  as  they  had  never  conceived 
before  they  knew  him.  But  if  Brother  Nardi 
had  not  studied  many  books,  he  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  The  Book  m  such  a  way,  that 
very  few  men  could  surpass  him.  And  he  also 
had  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  world,  and 
of  men,  and  this  knowledge  helped  to  make 


128  Michele  Nardi 

him  a  wise  and  indeed  a  great  winner  of  souls. 
His  language  was  at  all  times  plain,  forceful 
and  picturesque.  His  pulpit  illustrations  were 
nearly  always  the  result  of  his  own  observa- 
tions, and  of  such  a  character  that  his  hearers 
seldom  forgot  the  truths  they  were  intended 
to  convey.  When  I  was  associated  with  him  in 
Rome,  Italy,  where  the  standard  of  intellectu- 
ality is  of  the  highest  kind,  I  have  ofter  heard 
college  professors,  officers  in  the  army,  and 
other  such  prominent  persons,  declare  that 
they  preferred  to  listen  to  the  plain  sermons  of 
our  dear  brother,  rather  than  to  the  more  elab- 
orate pulpit  deliveries  of  the  prominent 
preachers  of  the  city !  They  all  knew  and  felt 
that  he  believed  every  word  he  said,  and  the 
effect  of  this  was  that  they  forgot  whatever 
literary  imperfection  there  might  have  been  in 
his  addresses.  Somebody  has  called  our 
friend  "The  Moody  of  Italy!"  It  has  been 
my  privilege  to  count  the  great  American 
evangelist  among  my  personal  friends.  It  was 
he,  indeed,  who  in  God's  providence  was 
instrumental  in  giving  me  the  courage  to  stand 
before  an  audience  and  to  testify  for  Christ, 
when  my  previous  experience  had  been  such 
as  to  make  me  think  that  my  natural  timidity 


a: 
-'A 


The  Italian  Evangelist  129 

made  me  unfit  to  serve  God  as  a  Preacher. 
So  I  can  bear  testimony  that  the  spirit  of 
Brother  Nardi  was  very  similar  to  that  of  D. 
L.  Moody,  but  since  it  has  been  my  privilege 
to  meet  and  to  listen  to  Dr.  John  Henry  Jow- 
ett,  I  have  felt  that  not  only  spiritually,  but 
physically  as  well,  the  two  marvellously  re- 
semble each  other,  and  this  impression  is 
shared  by  several  mutual  friends.  Whenever 
I  have  the  opportunity  to  attend  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  and  to  listen  to 
Dr.  Jowett,  I  seem  to  hear  the  voice  and  see 
the  face  of  il  caro  Michele,  and  my  eyes  moist- 
en as  I  think  that  my  beloved  friend  has  now 
departed.  And  yet,  wherefore  weep?  Our 
friend  is  alive  and  waiting  to  meet  us !  The 
goal  is  the  same  for  him  as  for  us.  Dear 
Michele!  thou  hast  only  preceeded  us.  May 
we,  following  thy  blessed  example,  be  ever 
watching  and  waiting  when  the  Bridegroom 
shall  come !  And  then  thou  also  shalt  appear 
with  Him  in  glory  and  we  shall  hear  thee 
say  once  more,  as  when  on  earth:  Traise 
the  Lord!"  And  we  shall  join  with  thee 
praising  Him  for  ever  and  ever! 

Rev.  Prof.  Agide  Pirazzini,  D.  D. 


130  Michele  Nardi 

Some  Characteristics  of  Michele  Nardi 

MV  first  recollections  of  Mr.  Nardi  go 
back  to  the  winter  of  1900 1901,  when, 
being  a  soldier  in  Rome,  I  used  to  attend  the 
meetings  held  by  him  in  a  fine  and  central  hall 
in  Via  Cavour.  The  impression  received  at 
that  time  and  which  was  strengthened  in  New 
York  where  I  had  the  privilege  of  knowing 
him  more  intimately,  is  that  ^Michele  Nardi 
was  an  exceptionally  consecrated  man. 

When  I  think  of  him,  six  things,  among 
others,  make  me  say :  I  well  perceive  that  he 
had  been  with  Jesus. 

1.  His  attitude  towards  his  wife,  who,  hav- 
ing become  both  blind  and  deaf,  was  depend- 
ing almost  entirely  on  him.  He  never  showed 
the  least  impatience ;  but  always  the  most  re- 
spectful attention,  the  most  tender  help. 

2.  His  happiness.  Whenever  I  met  Mr. 
Nardi  at  home,  in  public  meetings,  in  society,  I 
found  him  of  good  cheer  and  bright.  His  motto 
as  well  as  that  of  his  noble  companion  was : 
"Praise  the  Lord!"  This  was  continually  on 
his  lips  and  reported  on  the  first  page  of  every 
copy  of  the  Bible  or  portion  of  the  Scripture 
he  distributed  and  in  every  letter  he  wrote. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  131 

3.  His  sincere,  his  ardent  desire  to  evange- 
lize. I  do  not  think  that,  after  his  conversion, 
Mr.  Nardi  ever  made  a  new  acquaintance 
among  his  countrymen  v^ithout  giving  him  a 
message  from  the  Gospel.  This  explains  how 
he  could  start,  and  bring  to  quite  a  prosperous 
condition  so  many  ItaHan  missions.  It  was 
not  only  because,  not  having  had  an  evange- 
lical preparation  he  felt  he  could  not  preach 
for  years  to  the  same  congregation  that  he 
moved  so  often  from  one  field  to  another;  it 
was  because  of  his  great  wish  to  evangelize  as 
many  people  as  possible.  I  remember  him  say- 
ing to  me  one  day,  in  his  apartment,  in  the 
beautiful  church  building  (the  gift  of  Mrs. 
John  S.  Kennedy)  recently  erected  in  Charlton 
Street:  "Don't  you  think  that  this  is  a  fine 
house  to  live  in?  I  am  not  going  to  occupy  it 
very  long.  It  is  for  my  successor."  And  yet  his 
audience  was  growing,  growing.  He  was  plan- 
ning to  go  to  Tripoli  to  conquer  for  God,  with 
the  two-edged  sword  of  His  Word,  that  place 
newly  conquered  by  the  Italian  guns.  God 
had  disposed  differently. 

This  points  out  a  new  characteristic, 

4.  His  readiness  to  go  wherever  the  Lord 
called  Jiim.     Where  there  was   need  of  the 


132  Michele  Nardi 

Gospel,  that  was  his  place,  no  matter  if  it  was 
not  the  least  attractive.  "Do  not  be  like  those 
who  are  looking  for  the  tine  churches,"  he  said 
on  one  occasion,  to  the  Italian  students  of  the 
Bible  Teachers  Training  School,  ''Work  faith- 
fully where  you  are  .  .  .  Wait  .  .  .The  Lord  is 
the  One  who  must  call  you.  He  is  the  One 
who  must  say  to  you:  'My  friend,  come  up 
higher.'  " 

5.  His  spirit  of  prayer.  The  time  he  and  his 
wife  spent  on  their  knees,  only  God  knows. 
And  his  were  not  selfish  prayers.  I  mean,  he 
did  not  pray  only  for  his  own  work.  There 
was  no  Christian  work  with  which  he  did  not 
feel  in  sympathy,  and  for  which  he  did  not 
pray  with  all  his  heart. 

6.  His  profound  conviction  that  ''the  Gospel 
is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation/'  For  every 
voice  that  said  to  him :  "They  will  not  be  per- 
suaded, they  will  not  be  converted  to  the  God 
of  Jesus  Christ,"  another  voice,  far  stronger, 
responded :  "And  still  God  has  converted  me. 
I  was  indifferent,  I  thought  only  of  making 
money,  I  was  enthusiastic  about  the  career 
that  was  opening  before  me,  when  God,  sud- 
denly, by  means  of  His  Word,  drew  me  to 


The  Italian  Evangelist  133 

other  thoughts  ...  of  that  man  proud  of  him- 
self and  full  of  earthly  dreams  He  made  a 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ!  What  He  did  to 
me  will  He  not  do  to  others?" 

Rev.  p.  Griglio, 
Pastor  of  Waldensian  Con- 
gregation of  New  York. 

A  Tribute  from  Italy 

WHO  does  not  remember  that  ascetic 
figure,  enlightened,  from  time  to  time, 
by  a  smile  of  infinite  sweetness,  which  revealed 
the  man  of  God,  rich  with  the  true  evangelical 
piety  ? 

Michele  Nardi  in  the  solemn  prayer  meet- 
ing held  the  evening  before  the  inauguration 
of  the  new  church  in  Piazza  Cavour,  poured 
our  his  mystic  soul  in  fervent  supplication  to 
God,  and  this  was  the  last  time  that  here,  in 
Rome,  we  heard  that  indefatigable  pioneer  of 
the  Gospel. 

He  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord,  last  Tuesday,  in 
Rapallo,  where  because  of  the  mild  climate,  he 
had  looked  for  a  little  relief  from  the  disease 
with  which  he  was  afflicted.     To  the  end  he 


134  Michele  Nardi 

gave  testimony  to  the  hope  that  was  in  him, 
leaving  there  a  nucleus  of  believers  without 
ecclesiastical  or  denominational  aim. 

Michele  Nardi  was  one  of  the  most  notable 
examples  of  how  the  grace  of  God  can  raise  up 
a  living  witness  of  the  Truth  that  is  in  Jesus 
Christ.  He  was  the  genuine  type  of  the  Ital- 
ian-American, who  had  his  birth  on  Italian 
soil  but  was  bom  of  the  Spirit  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

He  was  hardly  twenty-one  years  old  when, 
about  forty  years  ago,  he  emigrated.  Natural- 
ly gifted  and  having  a  special  talent  for  busi- 
ness, he  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
various  enterprises  for  the  building  of  roads, 
bridges,  etc.,  in  almost  uninhabited  regions. 
He,  with  his  gangs  of  workers,  was  living  a 
camp  life  far  from  the  great  centers,  lodging 
in  improvised  shacks  that  were  always  pushed 
farther  on,  a  true  nomad  life  with  the  only 
purpose  of  making  money.  In  this  he  was 
successful. 

Nichele  Nardi  up  to  that  time  was  not  oc- 
cupied with  nor  had  interest  in  the  things  of 
God.  He  was  born  in  the  midst  of  Roman- 
ism, but  the  Catholic  church  with  its  hostile 


The  Italian  Evangelist  135 

attitude  to  the  national  aspirations,  had  made 
him,  as  many  others,  indifferent  in  the 
matter  of  religion.  But  when  he  realized  his 
privilege  to  become  a  child  of  God,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  sacrific  his  brilliant  future  of 
a  fortunate  enterpriser  of  probable  wealth, 
and  he  abandoned  business  in  order  to  retire 
in  one  of  his  shacks  and  there  to  mediate  on 
the  Word  of  God.  Like  St.  Paul  in  Arabia, 
he  spent  much  time  in  meditation  and  prayer, 
attending  only  the  school  of  the  Great  Master. 
When  he  came  out  from  his  retreat,  he  was 
an  apostle  and  remained  so  to  the  end. 

Necessary  data  is  lacking  to  follow  step  by 
step  Michele  Nardi  in  his  apostleship  in  the 
United  States;  it  is  enough  to  say  that  when- 
ever he  met  our  poor  emigrants,  he  preached 
the  Gospel  to  them,  and  this  became  the  in- 
strument, in  the  hands  of  God,  for  founding 
Italian  evangelical  churches  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  Although  Nardi  was  not 
a  partisan  of  any  church,  he  especially  worked 
in  connection  with  the  Presbyterians  and  fin- 
ally he  had  charge  of  the  work  in  the  Charlton 
Street  Memorial  Church,  New  York  City,  the 
beautiful   building   due   to   the  generosity   of 


136  Michcle  Nardi 

Mrs.  John  S.  Kennedy.  He  was  a  sincere 
friend  of  the  Waldensian  Church  whose  pro- 
gress he  had  always  in  his  heart.  We  honor 
his  memory  as  that  of  one  who  fell  in  the 
breach,  and  so  to  his  life  companion,  always 
serene,  we  say:  ''He  is  not  dead,  he  sleeps 
.  .  .  He  rests  from  his  labours  but  his  works 
follow  him." 

Rev.  a.  Muston,  ex-President  of  the  Wald- 
ensian Board  of  Evangelization,  in  *'La 
Luce,"  July  30,  1914.  Translated  by  Rev. 
P.  Griglio. 


A  Tribute 

SOMEONE  else  has  written  or  will  write  a 
biography  of  this  great  man.    This  is  only 
a  tribute  to  his  memory. 

We  are  apt  to  remember  always  the  first 
and  the  last  meeting  with  a  friend.  I  met  Mr. 
M.  Nardi  a  few  years  ago  for  the  first  time, 
and  immediately  I  felt  that  what  I  had  heard 
of  him  was  less  than  the  truth.  I  remember 
his  penetrating  glance,  the  ardor  of  the  saint 
radiating  from  all  his  person.     Every  word. 


MRS.    MIOHELE    XAKDI 


The  Italian  Evangelist  137 

every  act,  was  clear-cut  and  bore  the  mark  of 
great  decision  and  of  an  unyielding  will. 

Mr.  Nardi,  in  the  prime  of  his  life  had 
been  a  successful  business  man,  and  he  be- 
came a  successful  evangelist.  I  do  not  know 
if  Italy  has  ever  had  another  evangelist  who 
may  be  compared  to  Nardi.  His  way  of 
expounding  the  Scriptures  was  simple,  power- 
ful, dramatic.  Every  word  aimed  at  finding 
the  way  into  the  innermost  heart  of  the  hearer. 
He  seemed  without  physical  strength,  but  the 
moment  he  began  to  speak  you  saw  the  vigor 
of  a  lion.  His  prayer — I  cannot  forget  his 
prayer — was  a  talk  with  God. 

Masterful  also  was  his  way  of  constraining 
the  attention  of  indifferent  and  even  sneering 
ones.  I  remember  when  we  were  in  Nyack 
for  a  short  vacation,  Mr.  Nardi  was  talking  of 
the  coming  of  the  Lord.  It  was  a  private  con- 
versation. One  of  the  listeners  said  rather 
flippantly,  ''It  will  be  nice  when  He  will 
come."  The  man  Nardi  was  transformed,  he 
became  terrible ;  with  a  great  agility  he  stepped 
forward  and,  pointing  at  the  unfortunate  in- 
terrupter, cried  aloud,  rather  thundered: 
"But  not  for  you !     You  tremble !"     A  thun- 


138  Michele  Nardi 

derbolt  would  not  have  scared  more  the  world- 
ly man  he  was  addressing. 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  Nardi  allow  me  a  last 
scene.  A  few  friends  went  to  see  him  when 
he  was  sailing  for  Italy;  alas — the  last  time. 
We  had  a  service  on  the  steamer,  then  we 
waited  the  departure  from  the  pier.  It  seems 
now;  we  were  gazing  at  that  fine  couple — he, 
the  tall,  slender  figure,  and  his  beloved  wife, 
the  noble  Christian  blind  woman,  Mr.  Nardi's 
most  powerful  human  helper.  As  the  steamer 
went  slowly  away  and  we  were  saluting  each 
other,  I  thought  of  those  two  old  people  going 
again  to  evangelize  Italy,  and  I  said  to  myself, 
who  knows  whether  we  shall  see  each  other 
again  this  side  of  the  river;  and  when  the  pas- 
sengers were  no  longer  distinguishable,  we 
departed.  I  thought :  We  are  like  travelers 
who  during  the  trip  lose  sight  of  each  other, 
but  some  day  we  will  find  ourselves  side  by 
side  on  that  morning  on  the  eternal  shore. 

Rev.  G.  Petrelli. 


L 


A  Personal  Letter 

AST   evening   I    received    a   postal    card 
from  Mr.  D'Anchise  telling  me  of  dear 


The  Italian  Evangelist  I39 

Mr.  Nardi's  going  home.  I  cannot  tell  you 
how  I  felt.  It  was  a  thunder  bolt  from  a  clear 
sky— and  it  shocked  me.  I  could  not  help  to 
cry  to  God  from  the  bottom  of  my  soul,  "My 
God,  what  shall  we  do  without  Mr.  Nardi. 
What  Mrs.  Nardi  will  do  without  him?"  And 
it  seemed  as  if  God  answered  my  cry,  saying, 
"I  wanted  my  servant  in  My  glory  and  I,  even 
I,  your  God,  will  take  care  of  you  all." 

What  shall  I  say  to  you,  dear  Mrs.  Nardi? 
I  cannot  find  words  to  say  anything.  My  heart 
is  too  sore.  I  can  only  pray  for  you.  I  know 
exactly  how  you  feel  I  have  been  there.  But 
God  gave  me  His  wonderful  peace,  and  healed 
my  wounded  heart,  and  He  will  do  the  same 
for  you;  I  know  He  will. 

Mrs.  Brunn  and  our  children  are  praying 
for  you,  and  if  you  will  return  to  America, 
do  not  forget  that  our  house  is  yours ;  we  have 
a  spare  room  waiting  for  you.  We  would  be 
glad  and  fortunate  to  have  you  with  us. 

On  September  13th  we  shall  hold  a  Me- 
morial Service  for  Mr.  Nardi  in  the  Charlton 
Street  Church.  I  wish  you  could  be  here  then. 
Drs.  Shauffler,  Makinney  and  Pirazzini  will 
speak,    and   I   hope   Dr.    D'Anchise    will    be 


140  Michele  Nardi 

here  to  tell  us  about  Mr.  Nardi's  last  days. 
I  will  send  you  a  full  report  of  the  meeting. 

In  closing,  dear  Mrs.  Nardi,  let  me  exhort 
you  to  look  up  to  the  Lord,  where  Mr.  Nardi 
is  waiting  for  us,  where  we  shall  be  united 
with  the  dear  Lord  for  ever,  where  there  shall 
be  no  more  sin,  no  more  sorrow,  no  more  pain, 
no  more  separation.  "Forever  with  the 
Lord." 

Rev.  Joseph  Brunn. 

A  Memorial 

ONE  of  the  greatest  sorrows  of  my  life 
was  when  I  had  to  be  parted,  even 
though  for  a  little  time,  from  a  faithful  and 
dear  friend,  an  apostle  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  I 
have  known  Nardi  for  over  15  years,  but  I 
had  the  privilege  to  know  Brother  Nardi  in- 
timately in  this  city  of  Rapallo  where  we  met 
in  June  and  July,  1914.  He  was  a  man  of 
strong  character,  of  simple  faith,  a  man  of 
charity  and  love.  He  loved  the  brethren  and 
the  believers  with  whom  he  prayed;  he  loved 
the  young  people  who  heard  him  gladly;  he 
loved  the  common  people,  and  he  was  greatly 


The  Italian  Evangelist  141 

moved  when  praying  for  them.  He  was  a 
man  of  prayer,  mighty  in  the  Scriptures, 
sanctified  by  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  constantly  in 
communion  with  the  Master,  an  apostle  whom 
Italy  and  the  world  needed.  With  equal  fa- 
cility he  preached  in  several  languages,  and 
succeeded  in  gathering  around  him  Christians 
of  different  nationalities  who,  in  the  Christian 
Meeting-hall  of  Rapallo  edified  each  other  in 
the  presence  of  their  beloved  pastor,  and  with 
joy  and  simplicity  of  heart  partook  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  He  had  a  melodious  voice 
and  filled  with  the  Spirit,  he  preached  not  only 
by  his  words  but  by  his  whole  life.  His  ritual 
was  the  Gospel,  his  catechism  the  Gospel,  his 
theology  the  Gospel,  and  when  we  were  think- 
ing he  was  ''the  right  man"  for  the  little  flock 
left  to  him  by  dear  Brother  Mauro,  the  Lord 
called  him  to  Himself.  He  always  was  ready 
and  watching  like  a  true  servant  of  God  who 
knew  the  Father's  voice,  answered  the  call 
without  hesitancy  and  without  surprise,  leav- 
ing his  dear  wife,  so  tried  already,  to  travel 
alone  the  rest  of  the  journey  with  equal 
strength  of  character,  faith  and  trust  in  God. 

Rev.  Paolo  Gay. 


142  Michele  Nardi 

Tribute 

WHEN  I  heard  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
Nardi,  I  was  deeply  touched;  for  I 
knew  what  a  great  loss  it  meant  to  Italian 
Evangelization.  Though  I  am  not  a  convert 
of  Mr.  Nardi's  preaching,  I  had  the  opportun- 
ity to  hear  him  many,  many  times,  and  his  sin- 
cere preaching  of  the  Gospel  left  in  me  a  deep 
impression.  I  felt  the  message  was  straight 
from  God  through  him,  for  no  one  could  do 
as  he  did  unless  God  was  with  him. 

I  am  sure  there  is  not  a  work  in  the  United 
States  and  Italy  carried  on  among  the  Italians 
where  the  name  of  Mr.  Nardi  is  not  severed. 

The  sixty  or  more  churches  which  were 
built  through  his  untiring  efforts  will  remain 
as  monuments  to  his  memory  and  a  watch- 
tower  of  light  to  those  who  are  living  in  dark- 
ness. We  can  truly  say  of  Mr.  Nardi :  "He, 
being  dead,  yet  speaketh." 

Now  he  is  with  his  Master  enjoying  the 
reward  of  his  labors,  where  we  shall  meet  him 
and  join  him  in  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb. 

Joseph  F.  Piretti. 


The  Italian  Evangelist  143 

An  Appreciation 

1HAVE  learned  with  deep  sorrow  of  the 
home  going  of  your  beloved  husband  and 
that  I  really  feel  as  if  a  member  of  my  family 
had  been  stricken.  I  never  knew  a  sweeter, 
purer,  more  heroic  figure  than  Michele 
Nardi.  Like  so  many  of  our  Alliance  people 
the  revelation  of  Jesus  transfigured  him,  and 
he  will  ever  stand  in  my  mental  picture  gal- 
lery as  a  companion  picture  to  the  radiant 
faces  of  John  Cookman,  Henry  Wilson,  A.  J. 
Gordon,  Dr.  Barnet,  Nellie  Griffin,  and  others 
I  could  name.  His  soul  was  absolutely  spot- 
less and  heavenly.  His  mind  was  keen,  his 
ministry  marvelously  owned  of  God.  He  was, 
indeed,  a  Christian  hero.  I  can  scarcely  sym- 
pathize with  you,  dear  Blanche.  It  seemed 
fitting  that  he  should  be  glorified,  and  soon 
we  shall  see  him  coming  and  hear  him  shout 
again.  'Traise  the  Lord." 

Rev.  a.  B.  Simpson. 


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